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Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho scored an acrobatic wonder goal in the Premier League off a bicycle kick that revived memories of a similar strike by Wayne Rooney in a Manchester derby 12 years ago.
With his back to goal, the 19-year-old Garnacho met a deep cross from near the byline by Diogo Dalot with a flying overhead kick that sent the ball beyond Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and into the top corner of the net at Goodison Park.
It came in the third minute of the match to give United a 1-0 lead and the team went on to win 3-0.
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The goal had echoes of Rooney’s famous overhead kick against City in 2011 that secured a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
Garnacho looked astonished that he had pulled off the effort, which was slightly further away from goal than Rooney’s. The Argentina international ran off to deliver a Cristiano Ronaldo-style pirouette celebration in front of Everton’s fans.
“I can’t believe it,” Garnacho said afterwards.
“To be honest, I just turned around and thought, ‘Oh my god’.”
United manager Erik ten Hag said it was “probably goal of the season” and United captain Bruno Fernandes said “I have no words to describe it. It is out of this world”.
“A goal like this has to silence the crowd — even this Everton crowd,” Fernandes said.
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The outrageous third-minute strike set United on course for a 3-0 win over Everton but the score will not be the thing people remember from this fiery, volatile occasion on Merseyside.
The match was played to a backdrop of protests by Everton supporters furious at what they perceived to be an over-the-top sanction — a record 10-point points deduction — for financial mismanagement issued by a disciplinary commission last week.
This was the first game since that punishment and Everton fans marched in their thousands to the stadium, holding up pink cards featuring the word “corrupt” and the logo of the Premier League, and chanting “We shall not be moved”.
On one huge banner read the message, “Where there is power, greed and money … there is corruption”.
The protests continued inside the stadium and it was into this cauldron that United’s players walked, ahead of what would be a real test of character for Erik ten Hag’s team.
Garnacho’s goal was crucial in dampening the atmosphere somewhat, even if those pink cards stayed aloft for much of the game and there was a huge chant in the 10th minute — marking the 10 points docked — accusing the league of corruption.
“It changed the feel of the early part of the game,” Everton manager Sean Dyche said of Garnacho’s goal.
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