2022/23 UEFA Champions League Goal of the Season: Erling Haaland tops Technical Observer selection

The top ten goals of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League campaign have been selected by UEFA's Technical Observer panel, with Erling Haaland's acrobatic late winner for Manchester City against former club Dortmund impressing the most to win Goal of the Season.

Two flowing Paris Saint-Germain goals took second and third spots. Kylian Mbappé's volley at home to Juventus following Neymar's improvised assist was second (one of two top-ten entries for the Frenchman against the Italian side), ahead of Lionel Messi's smart finish following intricate build-up away to Benfica.

There were five strikes from outside the penalty box among the top ten selected by UEFA’s Technical Observer Panel yet the winner, by Manchester City’s Erling Haaland against former club Borussia Dortmund, came inside the five-metre box.

That is not to say it was straightforward. Quite the opposite in fact. The Norwegian said towards the end of the season that a lot of his goals in a City shirt had come from “unreal passes” but this strike in the September home comeback win over Dortmund was even less believable – an acrobatic connection with a João Cancelo cross which was more redolent of Bruce Lee than Francis Lee, the City scoring hero of the 1970s.

As Cancelo’s outside-of-the-boot cross dropped towards the far post, Haaland lifted his giant frame off the ground between two defenders and – with his left leg raised high – somehow hooked the ball into the net with the outside of his boot. That Pep Guardiola likened it to the so-called ‘phantom goal’ scored by Johan Cruyff for Barcelona in 1973 underlined its rare quality.

It is not the only goal that demands repeat viewing in a top ten which includes a magnificently controlled volley on the run by Kylian Mbappé – second on the list – and a lovely Darwin Núñez back-heel. There are eyecatching strikes from distance by the likes of Alejandro Grimaldo, Vinícius Júnior and Kevin De Bruyne and also a thrilling high-speed run by Karim Adeyemi from inside his own half which brought his memorable first Champions League goal for Dortmund.

2022/23 UEFA Champions League Goal of the Season

1 Erling Haaland (Man City 2-1 Dortmund) – Matchday 2, 14/09/2022

2 Kylian Mbappé (Paris 2-1 Juventus) – Matchday 1, 06/09/2022

3 Lionel Messi (Benfica 1-1 Paris) – Matchday 3, 05/09/2022

4 Darwin Núñez (Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid) – Round of 16, 21/02/2023

5 Alejandro Grimaldo (Benfica 2-0 Maccabi Haifa) – Matchday 1, 06/09/2022

6 Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid 1-1 Man City) – Semi-finals, 09/05/2023

7 Kevin De Bruyne (Real Madrid 1-1 Man City) – Semi-finals, 09/05/2023

8 Kylian Mbappé (Juventus 1-2 Paris) – Matchday 6, 02/11/2022

9 Karim Adeyemi (Dortmund 1-0 Chelsea) – Round of 16, 15/02/2023

10 Rodri (Man City 3-0 Bayern) – Quarter-finals, 11/04/2023