The strike was not only the most impressive of the week, but it also evoked recollections of a comparable effort by Wayne Rooney, a former United forward.
Manchester United defeated Everton 3-0 on Sunday in a Premier League away matchup where they displayed a dominant performance. The match was initiated in an impressive manner when winger Alejandro Garnacho accomplished an overhead pass three minutes into the contest.
The objective was without a doubt the finest of the week, and it also evoked recollections of a comparable attempt by Wayne Rooney, a former United forward, which he had accomplished in the Manchester derby twelve years prior. In 2011, Wayne Rooney’s goal was instrumental in the Red Devils securing a 2-1 victory.
Garnacho scored in an unexpected manner, given that he was confronting the goalpost from the opposite direction. Nonetheless, he connected Diogo Dalot’s deep cross from near the halfway line with an overhead kick that flew past Everton custodian Jordan Pickford and into the upper corner of the post.
Garnacho appeared similarly astounded by his effort, despite the fact that it strayed marginally further from the target than Rooney’s. The Argentine international then dashed towards the corner flag and performed a pirouette celebration in front of Everton supporters, reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo.
In 2018, while playing for Spanish giants Real Madrid in a Champions League match against Juventus, Ronaldo also struck a comparable goal. The effort by Ronaldo, who also scored the goal in an away match, was praised by Juventus supporters.
In the interim, the United manager acknowledged Garnacho’s endeavor as a possible season-long objective, but he cautioned against prematurely comparing his young player to Rooney and Ronaldo.
“There are still many games remaining in the season, but that is likely the season’s objective at this point,” Ten Hag told reporters. “It was incredible.” However, he felt uneasy about hastily contrasting Garnacho with two of the club’s most prominent players from the past few seasons.
“Don’t compare,” said the manager, who served a one-game suspension on Sunday and so was not on the touchline.
“I don’t think it’s right. They all have their own identity, but for Garnacho to go that way, he has to work very hard. And you have to do it on a consistent basis. And so far, he’s not.
“But he has definitely high potential to do some amazing things. It is not the first time we saw this. But if you want to be a player like Rooney or Ronaldo, you have to score 20, 25 goals in the Premier League and that’s not easy to get. But potential, he has.”
Conversely, the Argentine was astounded by his own accomplishment of scoring. “I didn’t see how I scored, I just listened to the crowd and said ‘Oh my god,'” Garnacho indicated to NBC. “One of the best goals I’ve scored, I’m very happy.”