Brian McClair: Man Utd v Liverpool 1989
Our infographic football posters map out iconic goals as art prints. Hang the moment Brian McClair scored a superb overhead for Man Utd agains Liverpool final on the wall - the perfect gift for any Man Utd football fan.
Frame not included.
My favourite goal from Matthew Crist
When Alex Ferguson arrived from Aberdeen to take charge of Manchester United in November 1986, he had one hell of a challenge on his hands.
Not only had United not won the League since the days of Busby, Best and The Beatles, but they were languishing towards the bottom of the Old First Division table - some way off those perpetual title contenders that resided on Merseyside.
To make matters worse, he was without a recognised goal scorer as, somewhat unthinkably now, nobody in United colours had managed to score more than 20 league goals for the club since ‘El Beatle’ himself back in the swinging ‘60s.
But by signing Brian McClair from Celtic the following summer United suddenly had a player who knew where the goal was and in his first season for the Red Devils, “Choccy” scored no fewer than 31 goals in all competitions.
That astonishing tally included 24 in the league, laying the ghost of United’s past to rest once and for all while providing them with a foundation to mount a serious challenge for silverware in the coming seasons.
This strike, scored just moments after United had gone a goal down to all-conquering Liverpool on New Year’s Day 1989 in front of ITV’s ‘The Match’ cameras, epitomised everything about McClair.
His unwavering determination to get into the box at every opportunity, an unerring ability to find the goal from what seemed like an impossible angle, not to mention an unstoppable shot over his own shoulder as United mounted an astonishing comeback to beat the reigning champions 3-1.
The goal is also synonymous with another of the Scottish striker’s most memorable traits - not celebrating wildly, but running into the net to collect the ball before sprinting back to the halfway line and getting the game underway again – always in pursuit of more goals.
Goals that would be vital during the club’s resurgence in the years that followed as Manchester United went on to become the most successful side in English football.