Football’s Greatest Goals No.31
Such football legends as George Best, Thierry Henry, Diego Maradona, George Weah and Zinedine Zidane have all featured in this weekly feature. This week’s ‘Greatest Goal’ comes from Norwich City’s Jeremy Goss but would have been a goal worthy of any of the players listed above.
Norwich City performed admirably in the inaugural Premier League season, eventually finishing in third position. They topped the table for much of the season, sitting in first place for all but two weeks between 5th September to 20th February.
City qualified for the UEFA Cup the following season as a reward for their excellent league position. It was their first foray into continental football. They would have qualified for the same tournament in 1985/86 after winning the League Cup but a five year ban had been put on all English clubs from entering European football.
Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem were the side picked out of the hat as Norwich’s opponents in the First Round. City beat Vitesse 3-0 in the first leg at Carrow Road courtesy of second half goals from Efan Ekoku, Jeremy Goss and John Polston. The second leg was goalless so City progressed to the Second Round.
The mighty Bayern Munich were next for City. The German side won three successive European Cups between 1974 and 1976 and boasted a very strong side. They were definitely not going to be a pushover.
The first leg was to be played at Bayern’s Olympia Stadion which had hosted the 1974 World Cup Final. It had a capacity of 69,250, which was well over 20,000 higher than any other league ground in England.
On the night, the famous ground was less than half full, with only 28,500 fans dotted around the vast bowl. They were there to witness a giantkilling and a fantastic goal from Norwich’s Jeremy Goss.
Just 13 minutes were on the clock when a hopeful ball was chipped into the Bayern penalty area. Legendary centre back Lothar Matthaus had his back to goal and was running backwards, keeping his eye on the ball. managed to head the ball clear but only as far as the ‘D’ at the edge of the box.
Jeremy Goss came charging in unmarked, jumped up and volleyed the ball with a scissor action, catching the ball perfectly. Bayern goalkeeper Raimond Aumann stood motionless as the ball flew past him into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
A small travelling army of Norwich fans went crazy behind Bryan Gunn’s goal at the other end of the ground. Goss had scored a very similar goal away to Leeds United on the opening day of the season and the volley would became his trademark.
The Norwich fans must have been pinching themselves when Mark Bowen stole in at the back post to nod in a second after half an hour. Christian Nerlinger halved the deficit four minutes before half time but the Canaries held on for a famous win.
Goss scored in the second leg at Carrow Road which ended in a 1-1 draw, sending the English side into the Third Round. This would be as far as their European run would go, as they lost both legs 1-0 against a Dennis Bergkamp inspired Inter Milan.
The fantastic volley from Jeremy Goss remains the most iconic moment of Norwich City’s UEFA Cup run in 1993/94 and one of their greatest goals in their history.
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