The 10 best overhead kick goals of all time Forget Henrikh Mkhitariyan and Olivier Giroud’s scorpion efforts. No matter what else happens between now and May, West Ham’s Andy […]

Forget Henrikh Mkhitariyan and Olivier Giroud’s scorpion efforts.

No matter what else happens between now and May, West Ham’s Andy Carroll has bagged the goal of the season with his immaculate overhead kick against Crystal Palace.

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal so good that even Juventus fans had to stand and applaud

There’s nothing quite like an overhead kick. It’s similar to a ‘Hail Mary’ pass in American football: when it comes off, the results are nearly always spectacular.

Here’s our list of the finest overhead kicks to grace the game.

10. Rory Delap v Tottenham Hotspur

Long before Rory Delap became the most feared throw-in practitioner in the world, he was plying his trade with Southampton.

Saints broke their transfer record in 2001 when they signed Delap from Derby County for £4 million.

Delap made sure it was money well spent for his employers when he unleashed a technically impeccable overhead kick against David Pleat’s Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite being well known for his athletic ability – Delap was a skilled javelin thrower in his youth – the Irish international took the 30,000 fans in the St Mary’s by surprise with the exquisitely executed effort.

9. Dimitar Berbatov v Liverpool

Any goal will do in a derby. A duff tap in, a deflected free kick, an undeserved penalty, an own goal, anything.

In many ways the flukier the better: the thought of your sworn opponents squirming at an undeserving goal is a kind of exquisite schadenfreude.

But one Bulgarian didn’t get that memo: Dimitar Berbatov, a cult-hero at nearly every club he has played at, from Bayer Leverkusen to Fulham to Tottenham, and of course Man United.

It was a magnificent overhead-kick against arch-rivals Liverpool that cemented the striker’s cult-status among the Old Trafford faithful.

North-West Derbies are often fast and furious affairs, but when a wayward cross made its way into the Liverpool box, time seemed to stand still.

Berbatov deftly controlled the ball with his chest before unleashing a measured bicycle kick that tickled the woodwork before bouncing satisfyingly over the line.

8. Ronaldinho v Villarreal

Ronaldinho served up more than his fair share of memorable goals, whether it was his magical footwork and finish versus Chelsea in the first knockout round of the 2005 Champions League, or his infamous lobbing of David Seaman from 40 yards in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final.

Perhaps topping this list of goals though was his acrobatic effort in a La Liga match against Villarreal in 2006. A goal that Ronaldinho said he had dreamt of scoring since he was a boy.

The buck-toothed Barca legend defied gravity when he chested a Xavi ball, spun 180 degrees and walloped a right footed bicycle kick over the helpless keeper.

As Geordie commentator Ray Hudson put it: “as electrifying as hairdryer thrown into a hot tub.”

7. Mauro Bressan v Barcelona

If you’ve heard of Mauro Bressan it’s probably for one of two reasons.

Reason one: he was arrested, along with 15 other people, in 2011 for his part in a match fixing scandal that shook Italian football to its very core.

Reason two: he scored possibly the best goal in Champions League history in a 3-3 draw against Barcelona in 2001.

The Italian produced something out of nothing, leathering a postage stamp-seeking shot 30 yards out, from a seemingly unthreatening position.

6. Trevor Sinclair v Barnsley

1997 was a simpler time. The transfer record remained below £20 million, FIFA appeared to be a reputable organisation, and overhead kicks were reserved for football royalty.

Twenty years later, the transfer record is £90 million, the least said about FIFA the better, and everyone who pulls on a pair of football boots attempts a bicycle kick at any opportunity.

Before YouTube it was rare that you would get see one, unless it happened to be in a featured MOTD game.

Trevor Sinclair ensured that we would witness one to remember when he rattled in an edge-of-the-box, head-height howitzer in an FA Cup match against Barnsley.

5. Philippe Mexes v Anderlecht

Centre backs don’t score spectacular goals, and they certainly don’t score acrobatic overhead kicks.

Which is what makes Philippe Mexes’ effort against Anderlecht so special – a goal that would enter the highlight reel of any Ballon d’or winning striker.

An indifferent ball from Riccardo Montolivo that was likely meant for the heads of AC Milan’s commanding defenders was beautifully controlled on the chest by the French centre back.

A controlled overhead kick followed that left keeper Silvio Proto utterly stranded.

How this goal didn’t win the 2013 Puskas Award, let alone receive a nomination for the prestigious award, we have no idea.

4. Rivaldo v Valencia

It’s the final day of the 2000/2001 La Liga season and Barcelona won’t be qualifying for the 2002 Champions league unless they can beat Valencia.

Rivaldo puts the Catalonian giants in front twice, but both times Valencia pull them back.

Things are looking desperate.

With one minute of normal time remaining, Frank de Boer punts a hopeful ball long forward to the edge of the Valencia box

Rivaldo chests the ball up and miraculously dispatches a perfect bicycle kick it into the bottom corner, sealing Champions League qualification, and recording the finest hat-trick of all time.

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic v England

Zlatan is so sure of himself that to many he comes across as downright arrogant. But if he didn’t have confidence in spades, he goal-scoring ability would be sorely hampered.

One of the Manchester United striker’s finest moments came in an international against England, when he showed stunning athleticism and imagination to score a 35 yard bicycle kick.

Only number three we hear you ask? Look at that goalkeeping! Perhaps Joe Hart asked to be loaned out to Torino so he didn’t have to face the divine Swede.

2. Marco Van Basten v FC Den Bosch

The second best overhead kick in our list is probably the second best goal that Van Basten scored, behind only “that volley” in the Euro 1988 final.

Neat build up play by Frank Rijkard among others culminates in the ball arriving at Marco’s boot, about six feet in the air.

The sweetest connection imaginable sees the ball curl from right to left and rattle the junction of the woodwork, before nestling in the net.

Utter perfection.

1. Oscarine Masuluke v Orlando Pirates

What are the best type of goals? Goalkeeper goals of course.

Rene Higuita and Jimmy Glass have scored some of the more iconic of these, and Peter Schmeichel even scored an overhead kick himself against Wimbledon.

But none of them come anywhere near Oscarine Masuluke’s effort against Orlando Pirates for Baroka F.C.

In the 96th minute of a South African Premier Division match, Baroka F.C. were trailing by a goal to nil when Masuluke made the voyage up the pitch that gets even the most cynical football fan excited.

Baroka seemed to waste their opportunity as Orlando tried to clear their lines.

With the ball bouncing out to the edge of the box, Masuluke unleashed a screamer of an overhead kick into the Pirates’ top left corner and earned Baroka a draw.

Just about the most dramatic goal you will ever see.

Note: Wayne Rooney’s acrobatic effort against Manchester City isn’t included because it hit his shin.