FIFA have released their nominees for the Puskas 2017 Award, and Arsenal’s scorpion kick scored by Olivier Giroud has made the list, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s similar finish did not.
Manchester United fans have reacted with frustration following the announcement of the Puskas nominations, with Mkhitaryan being overlooked for the award.
The Armenian forward won December’s Premier League Goal of the Month award for a spectacular acrobatic scorpion kick, but failed to be selected for the coveted award.
Controversially, Giroud failed to win January’s GotM award despite scoring his own spectacular goal, losing out to Andy Carroll’s scissor kick, while the West Ham star’s goal was overlooked.
The likelihood is that Giroud was selected over the United star could well have been because Mkhitaryan was in an offside position whilst breaking through to score his goal, but why the Frenchman was selected over Carroll’s is another story.
Another reason why the Arsenal man’s was favoured could well be that his goal was boosted by the ball striking the underside of the bar, giving the goalkeeper much less chance of denying the goal, but United fans refuse to accept the decision.
Are we biased in favouring Giroud? Should Mkhitaryan have been denied his GotM award for being offside? Would the United goal have been included or favoured if he was onside?
Pat J