Lionel Messi's former team-mate, Diego Gomez, scored a contender for the Puskas Award with an insane 35-yard goal for Brighton in the Carabao Cup against Barnsley. The Paraguayan midfielder ripped the Tykes to shreds in the Carabao Cup, smashing home four goals in a performance that will find a place in the Seagulls' folklore.
Getty Images SportGoal of the season shouts
Gomez opened the scoring of a 6-0 win with a routine close-range finish, the kind you’d expect any midfielder worth his salt to tuck away. But the second was a belter, rifled in from the edge of the Barnsley box with venom that had supporters screaming 'goal of the season' across social media.
That would’ve been enough to headline any highlight reel, but Gomez wasn’t finished. Just after the half-hour mark, he launched a half-volley from close to 40 yards out.
AdvertisementWatch the clip of Gomez's goalGomez refused to stop at a hat-trick
Most players would’ve walked off happy with a match ball and a hat-trick, but Gomez. On 68 minutes, the midfielder popped up again to tuck home his fourth, rubbing salt into Barnsley’s already gaping wounds.
Brighton kids pile on the misery
Even when Gomez’s number went up in the 75th minute, Brighton didn’t take their foot off the gas. Academy prospect Harry Howell stepped onto the stage with his first-ever professional strike. Moments later, Yasin Ayari added the sixth to round off a 6-0 thrashing under the Oakwell floodlights.
