5 players who broke their goal-scoring drought this weekend

Goal scoring droughts are something that plague footballers from time to time, and they put a lot of pressure on players out of form – especially strikers. They come in for criticism from all quarters; the press, the fans and sometimes even the manager.At the other end, there are players who aren’t expected to score on a weekly basis. But they do find the back of the net on many occasions, players who come nowhere close to the opposition’s box.This weekend (Matchweek 13 in the Premier League and La Liga) saw a number of goal scoring droughts come to an end. Here’s a list of players who did.

#1 Roberto Soldado

Tottenham Hotspur striker Roberto Soldado has been in poor form since his arrival at White Hart Lane in 2013. The striker, who has been in and out of the Spain squad for years, scored only 11 goals last season – just six in the Premier League. A terrible return for a player who cost the North London club £26 million to sign from Valencia. He was never able to recover the form he had in La Liga when he arrived on England’s shores.

This season, he hasn’t exactly improved either. He has struggled to get starts in the League and people were calling for him to be shipped off in January. But such talk was put on hold when he scored his first goal in the EPL this season in the Lilywhites’ 2-1 win over Everton at home.

In a Spurs counter-attack, the Spanish striker scored what would eventually be the winner by slotting the ball past Tim Howard after being fed by Aaron Lennon.

This was his first EPL goal since March when he scored against Cardiff City.

#2 Sergio Busquets

The Spanish defensive midfielder isn’t exactly known for his goal scoring exploits in La Liga. A brilliant passer of the ball and key to breaking up the opposition’s play, he is rarely found in and around the box, let alone get into a goal scoring position.

The 26-year-old has averaged just one goal per season in La Liga. In fact, his best season in terms of his goal scoring form was last season (2013/14) when he scored three goals – a goal each in La Liga, the Copa Del Rey semi-final and the Champions League.

He maintained his La Liga average of scoring at least one goal per season when he scored the winner against Valencia last night right at the death in injury time to give Barcelona a 1-0 win and maintain the pressure on table toppers Real Madrid.

#3 Joe Cole

Once a fan favourite at Stamford Bridge during his time at Chelsea, the ex-England international hasn’t quite had the career path he’d have wanted. Having played for Liverpool, Lille and West Ham in three years, Cole is now plying his trade at Aston Villa.

With injuries blighting his career in the past few seasons, Cole hasn’t started many games. But when he made his first start for Villa this weekend, he made it count!

Receiving a pass from behind him on the right from Andreas Weimann, he timed his shot perfectly to score past Tom Heaton to score his first goal this season. It was his first goal in 11 months, his last goal coming for West Ham against West Bromwich Albion in December 2013.

#4 Gael Clichy

Full backs are usually the last players you expect to score. As defenders, they are hardly even seen in the box during corner kicks. They are usually seen staying back in case of a counter attack (unless you’re a powerhouse like Branislav Ivanovic who has a high probability of scoring from set pieces).

Gael Clichy is no exception. The Manchester City full back has never scored for the Citizens since his move to the Etihad in 2011. In fact, his previous goal was for his former club Arsenal against Stoke City in 2008 – a long range effort in a losing cause.

But he managed to score his first goal in a sky blue shirt when City played Southampton. On a counter-attack in the dying minutes of the game, Sergio Aguero got the ball on the left and saw Clichy making a run into the box. A well timed cross say Clichy shoot into the top corner of the net with his right foot to seal all three points for City.

It was his first goal for Manchester City in 123 games for the club.

#5 Mario Gomez

Mario Gomez was one of the most feared strikers in Europe until 2012. Especially when he scored 80 goals in all competitions for Bayern Munich in two seasons (2010/11 – 2011/12). Even his final season with the Bavarian giants saw him score 19 goals in 32 appearances.

But a move to the Serie A with Fiorentina has seen his once glorious form dip to unimaginable depths. Having missed most of the 2013/14 season with a knee injury, he made only nine appearances in the league, scoring three goals. This season too has seen the German striker play just seven games.

But he got his first goal of the season for the Viola when he scored against Cagliari in a counter-attack. It was his first goal for the club in 259 days.