Nominated for the Bundesliga’s January Goal of the Month, we’d be surprised if this stunning free kick from Wolfsburg’s Max Arnold doesn’t win — although Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey scored a couple cracks as well. Watching this goal in real-time, your first instinct is to be absolutely convinced that it took a deflection.
The strike is arrowing straight at the wall before veering into the upper-left corner; the only explanation is a heavy deflection off the wall. But upon viewing the replay, you realize that’s a lie. This is a pure wallop from Arnold, and then the ball megs the keeper on the way out. Brilliant.
The Bundesliga channel named this video “Bend It Like Arnold,” which is appropriate because I don’t remember David Beckham ever lacing one quite like this. What a pearler from the 23-year-old German.