With FA Cup third round day just 24 hours away, Sports Mole got to thinking about some of the best strikes throughout the great competition's history. Here, we pick out five of our favourites to become the benchmark for the players who take to the field on Saturday.
1. Ryan Giggs - Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United, 1999
After a poor 0-0 draw in the initial semi-final at Villa Park, the replay four days later was quite the opposite encounter. Dennis Bergkamp had levelled David Beckham's opener and the game went to extra time. Ryan Giggs, having started on the bench, provided the perfect follow-up to Peter Schmeichel's huge penalty save as, with 10 minutes left, he danced through the entire Arsenal defence to rifle the winner into the roof of the net on 110 minutes.
2. David Ginola - Barnsley 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur - 1999
On most other FA Cup years, this goal would be the best in the tournament. However, David Ginola's mazy effort came in the round before Giggs's. That does not mean that it should not make this list, of course. Tottenham Hostpur set up a semi-final date thanks to Ginola's solitary goal at Oakwell separated two sides who were struggling in the league. It was not a good game, but that matters little as all that needs to be remembered is Ginola's effort.
3. Roberto Di Matteo - Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough
At the time Roberto Di Matteo's strike against Middlesbrough in the 1997 FA Cup final was the fastest in the tournament's history. That record went in 2008, but Di Matteo's remains one of the best goals ever scored in the FA Cup. Having collected the ball from Dennis Wise, Di Matteo drove forward and, seeing little on, rattled the ball in off the underside of the bar from 30 yards to put his side ahead in under 45 seconds.
4. Steven Gerrard - Liverpool 3-3 West Ham United, 2006
This was one of the better FA Cup finals in recent memory, but without Steven Gerrard it may well not have been a contest. He equalised twice in the game, bringing it to 2-2 and then 3-3. His second equaliser, with time very quickly running out, was a superb strike of the sort that Gerrard has managed throughout his career. However, with the occasion and the announcement of four minutes of stoppage time, he has not scored many better.
5. Dennis Bergkamp - Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal had been held to a third-round replay by Sunderland and in the away leg needed every inch of brilliance from Dennis Bergkamp to see them through. He opened the scoring at Roker Park with a goal of the highest calibre. Taking a pass from Paul Merson, he initially almost lost the ball, but recovered to turn, drive into the box and clip a wonderful shot into the top corner with an almost impossible angle of his right boot.
