Weekend football regularly throws up its fair share of stunning strikes. Adriano netted an absolute beauty for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid, while Jan Vertonghen’s winner during Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 victory over Swansea is worth of a mention, with the Belgian showing exceptional technique and mobility to fire past Gerhard Tremmel.
However, both strikes, and any other marked on the footballing calendar, has surely been trounced by Panagiotis Kone’s effort for Bologna against Napoli on Sunday night. People often state that they save the best until last and the same can be said regarding the Greek’s strike in the Serie A encounter.
With only 15 days of the year remaining, the midfielder took it upon himself to launch a late surge for the 2012 goal of the year. Napoli needed to secure a win at home to keep up the pressure on Inter Milan and Juventus in Italy, but the Rossoblu had other ideas at the Stadio San Paolo.
Bearing a striking resemblance to Radamel Falcao’s against USA during the off season, Kone surged into the Napoli 18-yard box to unleash an unstoppable effort that left Morgan De Sanctis clutching at thin air in the Partenopei net. A goal worthy of winning any encounter and despite his strike drawing them level with four minutes left, leaving Daniele Portanova to hand the visitors all three points three minutes later, Kone’s spectacular effort is the one fans will remember most from Bologna’s 3-2 win over Napoli.