AC Omonia, a professional club based in Cyprus, picked on heck of a way to make a statement in their UEFA Europa League group stage match against PSV Eindhoven on Thursday. For the opening goal against their Dutch opponents, one of their players scored an absolute golazo that left everyone on the pitch in utter shock of what had just happened.
What preceded the incredible goal was a foul. PSV's Jorrit Hendrix nicked the back heel of Michal Duris, which forced the referee to blow his whistle and call a free kick in Omonia's favor. The ball was left alone by players from both teams, and Jordi Gomez saw an opportunity to get a quick free kick going for his side. But rather than dish the ball out to one of his teammates, Gomez used the fact that the keeper was out of position to launch a goal from beyond the midfield line. Thanks to the fortunate angle of the shot, the ball ended up in the back of the net and the underdogs were on top.
Jordi Gomez 😲😲 He catches the keeper and we have another goal from distance.
— Champions League on CBS Sports (@UCLonCBSSports) October 29, 2020
Kemar Roofe you have competition. pic.twitter.com/dpLfyD0uhe
As the tweet mentions, the goal has drawn comparisons to Kemar Roofe of Rangers FC who also scored an absolute stunner from just past the midfield line in Europa League play last week. Contextually, Roofe's goal was more impactful as it was what became the score to put away the game for his team in injury time.
Roofe's also goal was probably a lot more legal than Gomez's as well. Though the referee let the goal stand, a replay of the highlight shows that the ball was still rolling when Gomez took his shot, which is against the rules with regards to taking a quick free kick for your team. While the ball did look like it was slowing down, which may have been enough to trick the referee into thinking that it actually did do that, the replay shows that it simply wasn't the case.
The play stood, but PSV were able to get some payback for that disservice as they scored an equalizer about 10 minutes later thanks to Donyell Malen.