The Definitive Ranking of All of Pablo Zabaleta’s Manchester City Goals

Pablo Zabaleta’s celebration for the opening goal in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Watford on Wednesday was a sight to behold. The Argentinian ran towards the South Stand shouting with joy and grabbing the badge on his shirt after beating Heurelho Gomes—marking the first time the defender had scored for his club in just over two years.

Manager Pep Guardiola was in a jovial mood when speaking to reporters about the full-back ahead of Sunday’s match with Arsenal: “We [have discovered] he’s a top scorer now so he’s going to play the winger from now on to try to help us to score goals because we have problems.”

Guardiola: “We needed Zabaleta’s spirit – he’s an important guy on the pitch, off the pitch, in the dressing room & around the club” #MCIWAT pic.twitter.com/7D7BdnsRkC

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 14, 2016

However, Zabaleta’s tally of 11 strikes in eight-and-a-half seasons suggests he might not be the marksman the Catalan will be looking for.

Guardiola, though, recognises why the Argentinian is regarded as a legend at the club: “He’s a guy who on the pitch is a competitor. [For] example, against Barcelona [he] was injured for two weeks and he arrived there on the day of the game and said, ‘coach, if you need me, I’m there’…

“He’s important on the pitch, of course, for his mentality and off the pitch as well. You can count on him. You can count on him, no matter the situation.”

Football fans are happy whenever their team scores, of course, but there are some players they love to see finding the net more than others. For City’s supporters, Zabaleta is one of those—he’s not an infrequent scorer, but he’s hardly prolific.

Pablo Zabaleta scores his first goal for Man City in 736 days, dating back to 10th December, 2014 vs. Roma.We think he enjoyed that one. pic.twitter.com/14yiEM7mPG

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 14, 2016

He’s seemingly a good-luck charm for his side when he slots the ball home, too. The majority—more than 90 per cent—of his efforts have come in matches City have won, a better rate than Sergio Aguero. The striker is down at 85 per cent, though he has found the net 140 times more than the full-back.

It’s time for the definitive ranking of the defender’s goals at City, taking into account the quality of the strike, its significance in the match and, perhaps the most important part of any strike, the celebration.

   

11. Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United, May 2011

This was the match of the unlikely goalscorer. First, Nigel De Jong had given City the lead—his first goal for the club since he’d joined in January 2009—and then Zabaleta extended the home side’s advantage over West Ham United later in the first half.

This wasn’t a classic goal, and it’s bizarre that it went down in the Argentinian’s tally given modern football’s standards for awarding deflections as own goals, but it officially counted as the defender’s third goal for the club.

He played the ball to David Silva on the right flank and drove into the box to receive the return. He slid it across the face of goal, where it may or may not have been going in, and Lars Jacobsen finished it off into his own net, via the crossbar.

   

10. Manchester City 2-0 Watford, December 2016

Zabaleta’s latest strike for the club squeezes into the top 10 by virtue of it actually being scored by him, unlike the previous entry. However important the effort was in the context of the season—City really needed the victory having been embarrassed at Leicester—the goal wasn’t pretty.

The full-back sensed the opportunity arising as play was developing down the left flank and took a chance to get into the box. When Kevin De Bruyne crossed over everybody, Zabaleta was unmarked and scuffed it into the net. 

The badge-grabbing, fist-pumping celebration brought a tear to many a fan’s eye.

    

9. Manchester City 3-0 Stoke City, …

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