My Five Favorite Goals from the 2012–13 Football Season

Think of this as a 10-year anniversary special. 10 years since the day Bayern Munich became the Champions of Europe under Jupp Heynckes. The treble is yet to be completed, with the DFB Pokal final against VfB Stuttgart being played a week later. But the celebrations are already in full flow.

As you can imagine, this season will always have a special place in my heart. But it wasn’t just about Bayern’s victory. With the hangover of Euro 2012 still heavy on me, I would open up my heart to the captivating and diverse world of football. And there was no turning back.

I still have many random but vivid memories from that season. In an attempt to relive them, I’ve made a list of my favorite goals (that I still remember) scored in that period —

Honorable Mention — Arjen Robben, Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund (UCL Final)

This one’s in a league of its own. Not much to explain here.

1. Fernando Torres, Chelsea vs Ruben Kazan (UEL QF 2nd Leg)

I have always had a fascination with Torres despite him losing his Midas touch since leaving Liverpool. After his first full season at Chelsea was close to a complete disaster (except for the goal against Barcelona), Torres started showing some signs of brilliance in 2012–13, especially in the Europa League.

He was Chelsea’s top scorer in the tournament, finding the net in every stage of the knockout phase except Ro32. This includes the opening goal for Chelsea against Benfica in the UEL final. But to me, his goal against Russian side Ruben Kazan in the quarter-final second leg stood out. In just the 5th minute, Chelsea were deep inside their own half when Frank Lampard hit an optimistic lofted pass. A mask-donning Torres, racing ahead of his marker, saw the goalkeeper leave the penalty box and rush toward him. With just a single delicate touch, Torres chipped the ball into the Kazan goal. For a brief moment, it felt ‘El Nino’ was back.

2. Robin Van Persie, Manchester United vs Fulham (EPL)

The 2012–13 Premier League season felt like the end of an era in the truest sense because it marked the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. Even in his fifth decade of management, Ferguson wanted to ensure the title is brought back to Manchester’s red half before leaving. And to accomplish his goal, he had a new weapon in his arsenal (pun intended).

Unlike Torres, Van Persie was at the peak of his footballing powers at this time. He had just ended a 30-goal season with the Gunners before controversially moving to rivals United. After an opening-day loss to Everton away, a 3–2 home win against Fulham helped United unlock their points tally. It was here that Van Persie scored a sumptuous half-volley from a Patrice Evra cross to announce his arrival at the Theatre of Dreams. He would end up winning his first Premier League title, and Ferguson’s last.

3. Didier Drogba, Galatasaray vs Real Madrid (UCL QF 2nd Leg)

After taking Chelsea to an unexpected UCL win in 2012, and breaking every Bayern heart in the process, Drogba decided to leave London for the shores of China. By Jan 2013 though, he would be back in Europe to play for Galatasaray.

The Turkish giants had reached the UCL quarter-final courtesy of Buruk Yilmaz scoring 8 goals in the competition. But here they came up against Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. With Galatasaray’s away leg ending 0–3 in favor of Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo’s early goal in Istanbul should have settled the tie then and there. But the team mounted a late surge and goals by Emmanuel Eboue (57') and Wesley Sneijder (70') made it 2–4 on aggregate.

Within just two minutes of Sneijer’s goal, Drogba overcame a challenge by Varane to score a majestic backheel and make the tie 3–4. The goal itself was pure class, but more importantly one could sense the fear it brought into the eyes of Madrid players. A comeback looked likely after all. Spoiler alert, it didn’t happen. Nonetheless, the Ivorian legend gave Istanbul a moment to cherish against Europe’s most successful team.

4. Ben Watson, Wigan Athletic vs Manchester City (FA Cup Final)

Inter needs to do a Wigan….was one of the thoughts I had in mind while thinking about the upcoming Champions League final. If the Italians want some inspiration before facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, they need not look any further than the 2013 FA Cup Final.

While that City team wasn’t close to being as good as the current one, they were still defending league champions with players like Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva, and Sergio Aguero among others in their prime. And against them were soon-to-be relegated Wigan Athletic. There was no contest in theory.

In reality, though, it turned out to be a close affair until Pablo Zabaleta got sent off in the 84th minute. In the last few minutes of normal time, Wigan was awarded a corner against 10-men City. Substitute Ben Watson made a near post run and scored a sublime header past Joe Hart. History was made, as Wigan became the first club to win the prestigious FA Cup while (a few days later) getting relegated from the English top flight. Football, bloody hell indeed.

5. Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich vs Barcelona (UCL SF 1st Leg)

In hindsight, it’s hard to objectively evaluate the scope of this result. On one hand, Barcelona was entering the contest knowing that their manager, Tito Vilanova, was fighting against cancer. And some of their players weren’t fully fit. But then again, it was more or less the same side that had reached the footballing pinnacle under Pep Guardiola. And they managed to win the 2012–13 La Liga season with a record tally of 100 points.

Back to the match, the semi-final first leg was being played in Allianz Arena. From the beginning itself, Bayern looked more dominant. They were out pressing Barcelona and exploiting the width on the flanks. In the 25th minute, Robben played in a cross that appeared to be headed wide by Dante. But out of nowhere came Muller, completely unmarked, and hammered the ball in with a low header.

Unlike the other goals on this list, it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing per se. But it was efficient and effective, very much like Muller himself. As the match progressed, he would assist Mario Gomez for Bayern’s second, body tackle Jordi Alba to allow Robben hit Bayern’s third, and round things up by scoring Bayern’s fourth goal of the night. Here we had a simple-looking guy, without a very desirable and flashy skill set, bringing one of the greatest sides to their knees. And just like that, began my obsession with this beautiful game that is still running strong.

Thank you for reading. Until next time!!