Sorry Willy, Di Canio’s is better... just!
After Gnonto’s scissor-kick conjures memories of another Italian masterpiece, we run the rule over two wonder goals
CHANCES are you have been there. I know I have. Seven-a-side. The big lump at the back has played a surprisingly good ball in behind the last defender. Lovely height. Lovely pace. you go for the volley. Be rude not to. The far corner is right there and the flapper in goal would never stop it. you make contact with the ball. That is half the battle. But where is it going? Ah, yes, into the car park. Apologies to whoever’s windscreen that was.
yet that didn’t happen to Leeds’ Wilfried Gnonto. The 19-year-old forward defied the odds to smack the ball into Cardiff’s goal, just like his fellow Italian Paolo di Canio did for West Ham against Wimbledon in 2000.
The two sensational strikes were so similar, it led to a debate about whose was better. Gnonto was not even born when di Canio scored his scissor-kick but he was asked that question afterwards. ‘I think his was better,’ he answered.
Sportsmail will be the judge of that as we dissect both of these electric volleys, which occurred 23 years apart.
THE BUILD-UP
DI CANIO’S was no accident. There is archive footage of him practising this very passage of play in training for Harry redknapp’s West Ham. The ball would be crossed and he would volley it in, scissorkick style. Occasionally he would throw in a rabona volley, just when he fancied hearing his team-mates applaud. So when Trevor Sinclair’s cross was flying towards di Canio, he was always going to go for goal with the space that Wimbledon defender Kenny Cunningham had afforded him. As for Gnonto, the Leeds winger had to make his own room. A little nudge in Tom Sang’s back helped him peel away, perhaps adding to the difficulty of his volley with the Cardiff defender in such close proximity.
THE TECHNIQUE
AS Andy Gray said on Sky Sports’ commentary on March 26, 2000: ‘Take a bow, son.’ Both of 5ft 10in di Canio’s feet were off the floor when he struck with the outside of his right boot. His athleticism allowed him to hang in the air. His timing meant he met the ball at the perfect moment.
It was a faultless finish and the 5ft 7in Gnonto’s was a copy-and-paste, the way he waited for the ball to drop into his vicinity. It is impossible to separate the two in terms of technique.
THE PLACEMENT
GNONTO’S went in at the near post, taking Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick by surprise. Whereas di Canio’s flew towards the far post, beyond a diving neil Sullivan. Sullivan later admitted his dive was for show. He was not getting to the ball. no goalkeeper would, largely because the strike was so unexpected.
If I am being picky, my preference is for the far corner — the way it was perfectly placed into that pocket by di Canio, just inside the post.
THE OCCASION
DI CANIO’S was in the Premier League, West Ham against Wimbledon in front of 22,438 fans at the Boleyn Ground. Gnonto’s was in the FA Cup, Leeds against Championship side Cardiff with 34,465 at Elland road. West Ham were having an unspectacular 1999-2000 season but this was spectacular. Leeds are having an unsensational 2022- 23 but this was sensational.
di Canio’s remains one of the Premier League’s all-time greatest goals. not to mention being voted the best strike in the 112 years of the Boleyn.
THE VERDICT
TENS of thousands of Leeds supporters can now say, ‘ I was there’. There when Gnonto channelled his inner you- know- who. yet in my mind, the di Canio strike cannot be beaten. It felt ahead of its time. It is the reference point for whenever someone scores a goal that can be considered similar, as rare as that is. di Canio’s version of this scissor-kick volley remains the best of the best.