While they don't pop up too often, there are few things more exciting in football than an indirect free-kick. The circumstances that lead to such a set-piece are becoming increasingly rare, meaning we are not blessed with them all too often.
On the occasions we do see them, they rarely actually end up in a goal. Defending teams tend to put all their players on the line to block the shot, while the fact that you cannot shoot directly from the free-kick also means we see many of them blocked down.
Well, not today. The Women's World Cup tie between England and Cameroon threw up an indirect free-kick when Cameroonian goalkeeper Annette Ngo Ndom picked up what adjudged to be an intentional back pass from defender Augustine Ejangue in the 13th minute.
With the entire Cameroon team lining up to block the shot, Steph Houghton would somehow manage to squeeze the ball in from six yards out.
Sasana imithe chun cinn i Valenciennes le cúl ón gcaptaen Steph Houghton #FIFAWWC
England take the lead with an indirect free kick against Cameroon #ENGvCMR#20x20 pic.twitter.com/oyZnhna7JQ— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) June 23, 2019
The positioning of the players on the line was a bit suspect here, with the right side of the goal left very early in comparison to the other post. Still, it was a decent finish.
While we rarely see goals from indirect free-kicks, it is even rarer for the attacking team to somehow concede directly after one.
That is exactly what happened in the Aviva Stadium two years ago, when Sampdoria somehow managed to concede against Manchester United within seconds of making a balls of the set-piece in the opposition box.
#MUTour Man Utd in Dublin Mkhitaryan goal. Counter attack from indirect freekick pic.twitter.com/lRD3cDuWSX
— Herrerasthroughball (@ManUtdElm) August 2, 2017
We definitely need to see more of these in game.
