Heading is an art form and is not an easy technique to master. Players must anticipate the cross, jump at the right time and place their head at the correct angle to guide the ball into the back of the net.
In the modern era of football we see far fewer goals scored from headers. As Mail Sport’s Matt Barlow reports, 265 headed goals were scored in the Premier League’s first season. But that number has been reduced by more than a hundred in the last campaign.
Clubs are choosing to play in a different way, with teams moving away from the traditional 6-foot-tall goalkeeper in the middle toward three forwards who can move up and down the pitch quickly and into the box.
Despite that, some sensational headed goals have been scored since the start of the Premier League.
Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton ranks his five favorite headed goals of the Premier League era.
Headed goals are a work of art but they are seen less and less in the Premier League
In the 1992-93 season, 265 headed goals were scored, but in 2023-24 there were 166, almost a hundred less
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. For this diving header, he had to duck two feet from the deck to secure an opening day victory.
Drogba skated from two meters above the ground to head Chelsea’s third against Man City after John Terry and Frank Lampard had put the hosts 2-0 up.
4. The Fernandos
Newcastle 5-0 Manchester United, October 20, 1996
Ferdinand was one of my favorite headers. This was a Premier League classic: a header that sailed from the crossbar to the post before landing in the net as Newcastle defeated the champions 5-0.
Sutton claims that Les Ferdinand (pictured right) was one of his favorite headers.
3. Javier Hernandez
Manchester United 2-1 Stoke, October 24, 2010
The backheader on the Britannia. Hernández was moving away from the Stoke goal when the ball was coming towards him, so he had to improvise. He scored with one of the most instinctive headers the League has ever seen.
Javier Hernandez, who filled the void after Wayne Rooney left, scored twice and produced this athletic header that helped seal victory against Stoke in 2010.
2. Luis Suarez
Liverpool 4-1 West Brom, October 26, 2013
Suárez was 18 meters from the goal. The ball flew towards him. Most forwards would have checked him, but he got his head forward and found the top corner from the edge of the area en route to a hat-trick at Anfield.
Deciding not to control the ball and shoot, Luis Suárez sensationally decided to head the ball into the back of the net from 18 yards.
1. Alan Shearer
Blackburn 2-0 Manchester United, April 2, 1994
I was on my way to signing for Blackburn in July when I saw Tim Sherwood hang an inviting ball towards the back of the six-yard box for Shearer to head home – precisely the sort of cross I wanted to attack!
Alan Shearer’s header against Man United in 1994 helped Blackburn to a 2-0 win against the Red Devils and was Chris Sutton’s favorite headed goal.