Kasami's Wonder Strike: 10 Years On

10 years ago today, the world witnessed arguably the greatest goal to have ever been scored in the Premier League.

It was a key match on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football show. Fulham had won just twice in the league all season, Crystal Palace only once.

Martin Jol’s side came from behind to secure a comfortable 4-1 win. While that proved a false dawn, with the team relegated at the end of the season, Pajtim Kasami’s equaliser that night forged itself into our – and Premier League – history, forever.

To celebrate the most impossible of goals, we spoke to the man himself and his fellow scorers on the night – Steve Sidwell, Dimitar Berbatov, and Philippe Senderos – to relive a famous evening at Selhurst Park.

Pajtim Kasami: “I saw Sascha Riether had the ball and I saw the space which the coach always told me to attack if the full-back had the ball. I attacked the space, he chipped the ball perfectly, I took it on my chest and then on my right foot, and unbelievably it went directly in the top corner on the left side. It was just instinct. You don’t even have seconds to think about it, you just instantly think what's the best thing to do. It’s only after the game when you see it that you realise what a goal it was.”

Steve Sidwell: “I can’t tell you how hard that is to do. The ball is in the channel, he’s running full tilt, and he just pops it off his chest in one motion and, with his weaker foot, puts his right chucker on it and whips it in the top bin. It’s phenomenal, I can’t tell you how hard that is to do. What a goal. Just, wow.”

Philippe Senderos: “10 years, bloody hell… I was quite far back, but I had a great angle of it from behind. It was impressive. The ball comes up to him, he takes it on his chest while he’s running, and just hits across it. It was an unbelievable goal. It's definitely one of the best I’ve seen. It was really, really incredible, the way he took it on, without the ball falling to the ground. That was amazing. Great technique. I think I was one of the first ones to go to him and celebrate, because Pajtim being Swiss and in London by himself, we used to be very close. He was like my little brother, he used to be at my home quite a lot, so I was really pleased for him.”

Dimitar Berbatov: “That was an unbelievable goal. Sascha Riether gave him the ball, but the pass was s***. The pass is going to no man’s land, so I’m just jogging and thinking, ‘I’ve not got anything to run for because he’s not going to do anything with the ball.’ And then he controls it – and I’m still not thinking he’s going to do anything special – and he shoots right away. Then I’m like, ‘f***, it’s going in!’ I was clapping that goal inside, because that was something special.”

Kasami: “I think it was a good ball! I was running at it from behind Berba, so that's why he was saying it was a s*** ball probably, because he didn’t see me coming from the back. The Gaffer always wanted me to attack there in order to make space for Berba, by taking players away. So, yeah, I thought the ball was perfect. It was a nice chip into space. When you hit a shot, you know if you hit it well. It was like a masterpiece – the ball that was played, the way I controlled it, and the way I hit it. I think all these three elements were perfect.”

Such was the calibre of Kasami’s strike, the other goals from that game go somewhat unmentioned – namely Sidwell’s plum volley, and Senderos’ scissor kick. But those boys were happy to be overshadowed by their teammate.

Sidwell: “I’m not one for that, as everyone who knows me knows. I’d rather us win and me not score. It’s all about the team. Do or die, by hook or by crook, I just want three points. But watching that Kasami goal, when he put that in, I’ve not seen a better goal live. At all. Ever. That’s the best goal I’ve ever seen.”

Senderos: “The goals in that game were a joke, the first two were unbelievable. I had an interview with talkSPORT a while ago, and they asked me what was the best goal I scored, and I mentioned that one. Nobody remembered it! Not even Darren Bent, who played in that game. Everyone remembers the first two. I don’t mind – I scored at a World Cup, so I don’t mind!”

Kasami: “Sidders’ was an amazing goal, to be honest. The way he hit it… In that game it felt like everyone who had a shot on target scored a goal! Also, the goal of Philippe’s was amazing. I remember that quite well in the second half. I think people will talk for years about that game, for my goal and the other two goals. I think it will remain with the Fulham fans forever.”

Remarkably, Kasami's did not even win Match of the Day’s Goal of the Month competition, despite eventual winner Jack Wilshere’s real-time tweet.

Kasami: “It doesn’t really bother me. At least he admitted it! I think the goal that Arsenal scored is more collective. At least I was nominated for the Puskás Award, which made me very proud.”

The FIFA Puskás award – named after legendary Real Madrid and Hungary striker Ferenc Puskás – is given to the player who scored the most aesthetically significant or beautiful goal, regardless of gender, championship, or nationality.

As he referenced, Kasami made the 2014 shortlist, but was beaten by James Rodriguez’s turn and volley for Colombia at the World Cup. The two were teammates at Olympiakos during the 2022/23 season, with Kasami wasting no time in raising the subject.

Kasami: “I told him, ‘by the way, my goal was better than yours.’ And he agreed! We were talking about the goal and he was like, ‘your goal is much more difficult to score than mine, but it was a World Cup moment and, you know, it's different.’ It's a different goal in a different scenario. But that was nice to hear from a quality player. He told me he wouldn't be able to score a goal like this.”