The main goal is an art form and not an easy technique to master. Players must anticipate the cross, jump at the right time and position their head at the right angle to guide the ball to the back of the net.
In the modern era of football we see significantly fewer goals scored via headers. As Mail Sport’s Matt Barlow reports, 265 goals were scored by headers in the Premier League’s inaugural season. But that figure has now fallen by more than a hundred in the last campaign.
Clubs are choosing to play in a different way, with teams moving from the traditional 6ft tall goalkeeper in the middle to a front three that can move quickly up and down the pitch and break into the box.
Despite this, there have been some sensational goals scored via headers since the inception of the Premier League.
Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton ranks his top five favorite goals of the Premier League era.
Heading goals are an art form but are becoming increasingly rare in the Premier League
In the 1992-1993 season, 265 headed goals were scored, but in the 2023-2024 season there were 166, almost a hundred fewer.
Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton has listed his top five goals of the Premier League era
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5. Didier Drogba
Chelsea 3-0 Manchester City, August 20, 2006
Drogba was no stranger to heading crosses – just look at the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. This diving header required him to stoop sixty yards from the deck to secure an opening day victory.
Dider Drogba slid in from the ground to head in Chelsea’s third match against Man City after John Terry and Frank Lampard had given the hosts a 2-0 lead
4. Les Ferdinand
Newcastle 5-0 Man Utd, October 20, 1996
Ferdinand was one of my favorite headers. This was a Premier League classic, a header flying off the crossbar and into the post before ending up in the net as Newcastle beat the champions 5-0.
Sutton states that Les Ferdinand (pictured right) was one of his favorite headers
3. Javier Hernández
Man Utd 2-1 Stoke, October 24, 2010
The backheader at the Britannia. Hernandez stepped away from Stoke’s goal as the ball came to him, so he had to improvise.
He scored with one of the most instinctive headed finishes the League has ever seen.
Javier Hernandez filled the void after Wayne Rooney left, scoring twice and producing this athletic header to give victory away to Stoke in 2010
2. Luis Suarez
Liverpool 4-1 West Brom, October 26, 2013
Suarez was 18 meters from goal. The ball flew towards him.
Most strikers would have got it under control, but he stuck his head out and found the top corner from the edge of the box on his way to a hat-trick at Anfield.
Luis Suarez decided not to control the ball and shoot and sensationally decided to head the ball into the net from 18 meters out.
1. Alan Shearer
Blackburn 2-0 Man Utd, April 2, 1994
I was on my way to signing for Blackburn in July when I saw Tim Sherwood loft an inviting ball towards the back of the six-yard box for Shearer to thunder home – exactly the kind of cross I wanted to attack!
Alan Shearer’s header against Man United in 1994 helped Blackburn to a 2-0 win over the Red Devils and was Chris Sutton’s favorite goal.