Real Madrid Femenino may have lost their weekend fixture to Real Sociedad, but their lone goal in the 3-1 defeat was a beautiful strike well-worth watching over and over again.
Marta Cardona joined Las Blancas this past summer from La Real, and she has been one of quite a few excellent signings made by the Royal White club. The hard-working winger has become a major asset to the attack, joining Sofia Jakobsson and Kosovare Asllani as major stars in the front line. She is mostly known for creating chances, but in this match, she did all the work herself.
It’s hard to find a way to watch Real Madrid’s road games, much less highlights, but you can follow this link to Twitter where the incomparable “Pelu” has a crisp GIF of the goal.
Cardona started the move on the right-hand side and glided past two Real Sociedad defenders in a flash. If you blink, she is already across the screen with a quickness and control that can rival any winger on this planet.
Marta Cardona scored a goal of the season candidate
But she wasn’t done there. Oh no, far from it. You can see Cardona slow down just a bit as she calculates the situation and measures up the moving ball. She saw the defender in her line of sight and knew she had all the ingredients in place to attempt a curling shot: Defender blocking the line of sight, right distance and angle for the shot, and the ball moving at just the right pace to get her supposedly weaker left foot around it.
That’s exactly what Cardona did. She unleashed a curling effort with power, precision, and plenty of movement. Before the goalkeeper could even think of reacting, the ball bent around the defender, then the post, and finally into the top left-hand corner of the net.
Now THAT is a world-class finish and a goal Real Madrid fans can enjoy on loop. While we’ll be disappointed in the result, Las Blancas can’t win them all in their first season, which has already been a huge success. The Champions League is in their sights, but, for now, let’s enjoy this magical goal from Real’s biggest breakout star of 2020-2021, Marta Cardona.