Apparently, Fulham manager Scott Parker told Joe Bryan to shoot on the free kick rather than cross the ball after seeing Brentford’s David Raya off his line and cheating for the cross. Looking at the above picture it’s hard to believe that Bryan scores from that position.
I wonder though if it was that raise of the arm of Joe Bryan that really sealed the tricky of the free kick. Bryan raises his hand like he’s taking a corner, to signal to his teammates to make their runs, all the while looking towards them and how they are setup to receive the cross. Bryan does well in disguising his intentions.
But really, it’s just absurdly far out and such a bad angle that to shoot from there and score just seems far fetched. Bryan though whips the ball in the near post perfectly and Raya is caught. Raya even seems to dive after the soccer ball when it’s already in the back of the net.
Watch Joe Bryan’s free kick and the key moments from Wembley as Fulham faced Brentford in the SkyBet Championship Play-Off Final.
