Mesut Özil scored his fourth goal of the Premier League season in Arsenal’s fairly simple 5-1 win over Bournemouth on Wednesday.
Özil’s strike opened the scoring in the fourth minute, having been played in by Sead Kolasinac. The German had only the keeper to beat, and he did so with relative ease. But his shot was anything but usual.
The Arsenal No. 10 pulled out his trademark finish, what we’re calling the Ozil Bounce, in which he hits the ball into the ground to pop it up over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Now if this just happened once, it’d be written off as a coincidence, viewers assuming he did it on accident. But it happens with such regularity (at least when Unai Emery actually lets him on the pitch), it’s clear the Ozil Bounce is an intentional shot.
Certainly we’re not the only ones to notice.
Shooting the ball into the ground to create lift is a unique way to fool a goalkeeper. The action makes it appear as though he’s shooting low, but the ball then goes high.
The strike doesn’t have the power of a direct smash toward goal, but what it lacks in speed it makes up for in accuracy and success rate. Özil has scored on all four of his shots on target in Premier League action this season.
Here are some more examples of the Ozil Bounce, which dates back at least to his days at Real Madrid, if not earlier at Werder Bremen.
Lets make it a thing
"THE OZIL BOUNCE"#Ozil pic.twitter.com/hiQSahGhsI— Awaiye Adegbenro (@hardey_03) February 28, 2019
Clearly Özil practices more than just Fortnite.
The Ozil Bounce is a bit reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo’s bouncing penalty kicks. On certain PKs, which teammates have said he practices, Ronaldo will stomp his left plant foot with such power that the ball is launched ever-so-slightly into the air before his right foot strikes.
I don't think I could pull off the Ozil Bounce or Ronaldo PK on FIFA 19, let alone a professional match.
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