Calhanoglu wins Matchday 9 Goal of the Week
Cologne - There was no shortage of goals on Matchday 9 in the Bundesliga, nine of them falling in one game, and while one of those strikes at the Commerzbank Arena made the shortlist for Goal of the Week, it was a sumptuous free-kick at the BayArena which took the award.
Free-kick master
Unsurprisingly, given the reputation he has forged since bursting onto the scene with Hamburger SV last season, that pearl of a free-kick came from the foot of Bayer 04 Leverkusen midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.
Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann thought he had placed his wall well, and he probably had, only you need a barrier of giants to deny Calhanoglu when he hits the ball as sweetly as he did on Matchday 9. With just enough curl, precise dip and perfect pace on the ball, Fährmann's fingertips were not enough to prevent the sumptuous set-piece finding the top corner.
Calhanoglu, who has scored many a free-kick already in the Bundesliga, earned the Werkself all three points with that show of precision, and it got him 76 per cent of the vote for Goal of the Week on bundesliga.com.
Selection on YouTube
Hiroshi Kiyotake chipped in with delightful direct free-kick of his own for Hannover 96, but he came second with 11 per cent. Third went to Christian Gentner for the goal which made it 3-1 to Stuttgart in that aforementioned goal-filled encounter in Frankfurt, while Änis Ben-Hatira's first in Hertha Berlin's 3-0 win over Hamburg took three per cent.
Bringing up the rear, Kevin Volland's turn and shot which proved to be the match-winner for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim against SC Paderborn got a minor share of the vote. All of the goals were shown, as usual, on the Bundesliga's official YouTube channel at midnight CET after the close of play on Sunday. Don't miss out on the vote next time, and in case you missed them, here are the top five from Matchday 9.
