Former Old Gold full-back Lee Naylor was delighted to see Pablo Sarabia win Goal of the Season for his ‘outrageous’ strike against Tottenham Hotspur.
Following the defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday, Wolves gave out their end-of-season awards given it was the final home game.
There were quite a few contenders for Goal of the Season in 2023/24. Matheus Cunha scored a stunning solo effort against Nottingham Forest which had a lot of support from his own teammates.
Tommy Doyle’s rasping driving against Brentford in the FA Cup was a moment of star quality.
And Hwang Hee-chan showed brilliant skill and awareness with his chop and finish against Newcastle United, with Toti providing a lovely assist.
But Pablo Sarabia‘s goal won – and Lee Naylor believes it deserved to…
Lee Naylor claims Pablo Sarabia’s ‘outrageous’ goal kickstarted his season for Wolves
Sarabia has enjoyed a pretty decent 2023/24 overall.
He started the campaign not particularly in favour, with Gary O’Neil preferring the more mobile trio of Cunha, Hwang and Pedro Neto up top.
But he eventually forced his way into the side, after an injury to Neto.
Sarabia’s standout moment this campaign came in the home game against Tottenham Hotspur. Wolves trailed and appeared to be heading for defeat.
But Cunha floated a lovely ball over the defence for Sarabia, who took one touch to pop the ball up before firing in low with his left foot. It was an incredible goal, which got Wolves back on level terms. Sarabia would then supply Mario Lemina for a late winner.
As the award was being given to him on Saturday, Lee Naylor said (Matchday Live): “I went for Sarabia. The touch and finish was outrageous. (It) changed his season by the way. He was all over the place I’m not going to lie, as a player, (he) couldn’t find anything. Then he come up with this. People don’t understand how hard it is when you’re running at that pace, to control the ball like that and volley it…”
Sarabia goal was sensational
Sarabia’s goal is a worthy winner of Goal of the Season, because not only was it an extremely difficult piece of skill, it also helped Wolves in terms of taking three big points.
Naylor is right, the degree of difficulty was high. But he made it looked very easy.
Cunha can count himself a tad unlucky, because his goal against Nottingham Forest was also amazing. he had so much to do, but provided some magic.
But Sarabia’s effort was breathtaking, and it certainly did change his season.
He can frustrate at times, and some probably wouldn’t be too upset if he moved on this summer. But Sarabia is undoubtedly a wonderful technician, and not many other players in the team would have been able to score that goal.
