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In football, the defender's primary role is to protect their goal area from the opposition’s offense and prevent goalscoring opportunities. Essentially, defenders do the majority of the ‘dirty work' including tackling, making clearances, and marking the attacking players.
In the modern age, there has been an emergence of new systems of play and plenty of assigned secondary roles to defenders. More of these players are involved on the offensive end, especially during set pieces.
These five defenders have shown on a consistent basis that they too can be as lethal as the strikers in a team. Some of the goals that they have scored could easily make a novice fan confuse them for a centre-forward.
#5 Leighton Baines
The Everton left-back and England international has set various records for his pedigree in scoring penalties. He is the type of player that would be the first choice in taking spot kicks - even during shoot-outs.
Baines has 42 career goals, including 38 for Everton, majorly drawn from his clinical finishing from free-kicks and penalties. In 2012, he scored four goals and created over 115 chances for his team which was the highest of any player in the major European leagues.
In 2014, Baines scored three penalties in the Premier League to become the only player to convert all penalties after taking more than 10 penalties. In total, Baines has missed only three penalties out of 29 attempts.
#4 Chris Smalling
The towering centre-back has produced some important goals for Manchester United. His 17 goals in 308 appearances on top of his defensive contribution enabled Smalling to establish himself as a regular in United setup.
In the latter stages of the recently concluded 2017/18 season, Smalling scored in three successive away matches that resulted in wins (Crystal Palace, Manchester City, and Bournemouth).
On 7 April 2018, he scored the winning goal as United secured a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over City in the 69th minute. He got on the end of Alexis Sanchez’s cross to score with a typical goal-poacher finish. He was also on target three seasons ago as United beat City 4-2 in the derby.
#3 Roberto Carlos
Regarded as one of the best left-backs in football, Carlos scored 113 goals for club and country. He is famous for producing stunning free kicks.
In 1997, he scored an unusual free-kick against France from about 35 metres out. After his trademark run up, he hit the ball and it curled out before swerving into the ‘frozen’ Fabien Barthez’s right post.
Out of his 71 goals for Real Madrid, none proved more important than in the 2006/07 season when he scored a stoppage-time winner. This was in their 3-2 win over Recreativo de Huelva.
This proved to be vital in the title race as they finished level on points with Barcelona and won the league based on head-to-head record.
#2 Gerard Pique
Since his 2008 move to Barcelona from Manchester United, Pique is regarded as one of the best central defenders of his generation. He has won it all with his club and the Spanish national team - including the Champions League, European Championship, and the World Cup.
He has scored 49 career goals as a centre-back and has, on many occasions, pushed forward as an additional striker when a goal is desperately needed.
Pique scored the only goal as Spain beat Czech Republic 1-0 in the 2016 European Championships. In July 2017, he steered home the winner as Barcelona narrowly beat Real Madrid 3-2 in El Classico.
#1 Sergio Ramos
Sergio Ramos is the epitome of a clinical goalscoring defender. Ramos has done it all during his stellar career - whether it is scoring late winners or converting penalties, he has proven to be dangerous on set pieces.
For someone with 89 career goals, he has a knack for scoring late goals. In the 2014 Champions League final, Ramos crucially headed home Luca Modric’s well-taken set piece in the 94th minute to level matters and force extra time. They went on to beat Athletico Madrid 4-1.
In August 2016, he saved Madrid again in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla when he scored a last-minute equaliser to force extra time. Sevilla led 2-1 after Yehven Konoplyanka’s 72nd-minute penalty. Madrid went on to seal a comeback 3-2 win in extra time.
In December 2016, he once more nodded home the equaliser in injury time in a 1-1 draw with Barcelona which maintained their six-point La Liga lead.
