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Soccer: Henrikh Mkhitaryan's Two Goals Symbolize His Playing Style

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  • Soccer: Henrikh Mkhitaryan's Two Goals Symbolize His Playing Style

    HENRIKH MKHITARYAN'S TWO GOALS SYMBOLIZE HIS PLAYING STYLE

    Football.co.uk
    Sept 4 2013

    Author: Armen Bedakian

    Henrikh Mkhitaryan made headlines last week for his two-goal
    performance for Borussia Dortmund, in the club's 2-1 win over Eintracht
    Frankfurt. Heno, who scored his first Bundesliga goal that day,
    managed to pick up a brace, and while the two goals gave his side
    the win, they also symbolized perfectly the kind of player that he is.

    These two goals are the kind of goals that fans of Shakhtar Donetsk
    and the Armenian national team have seen countless times before.

    For Dortmund fans, these two goals, scored against Eintracht Frankfurt,
    is but a sneak preview of what is to come. Mkhitaryan's two goals were
    very different, and yet, both encapsulate the kind of player that he
    is. His is a talent that can be, at once, flashy and exciting or quite,
    subdued but deadly. He is not like Mario Götze, in this regard, in
    that players who mark Mkhitaryan have trouble committing to him with
    his slow, tempered approach forward, and yet, if you give Mkhitaryan
    an inch of space, it's enough for the Armenian international to slot
    home a goal.

    The first goal, set up perfectly by Jakub BÅ~Baszczykowski after
    intercepting the ball in midfield, was slotted away by Heno with a
    finesse touch of the left shoe. It slipped past the keeper and opened
    the Armenian international's goalscoring account with Dortmund, in
    as simple a way as possible. This is Mkhitaryan's silent side. It is
    his ability to remain cool under pressure and slip by defenders that
    makes him such an attacking talent.

    The first goal of the game was not just Mkhitaryan's first in a
    Dortmund shirt, but his first of many more, should his performances
    for the national team and for Shakhtar Donetsk be any indication. His
    time in Donetsk was riddled with these kinds of goals. It was a
    well-established routine for Willian to find Mkhitaryan making a
    slow, deceptive run passed enemy defenders before dragging his leg
    and scoring a one-touch goal. Nothing fancy, nothing exceptionally
    pleasing to the eye, but oh so very efficient. For a side built on
    this very characteristic, Mkhitaryan's efficiency gives Jurgen Klopp a
    ready-made replacement for his departed German midfielder, Götze. His
    goalscoring celebration, too, is a testament of this style of scoring.

    Never more than a simple jog, arms perched at his sides, a slight smile
    painted on his face. It's as though Mkhitaryan knows that the goal was
    simple enough, not warranting a backflip or anything too gaudy. A high
    five with teammates and a goal on the scoreboard is more satisfying,
    anyway. Yet, beneath the surface of this silent maestro, there is
    another layer of goalscoring threat, one that manifests itself in
    the beauty of a long-range strike. The second goal Mkhitaryan scored
    against Frankfurt came from a solo run, when he cut in from the
    right and shot with intent outside the box. This is another one of
    Mkhitaryan's specialties. He has scored from well outside the box
    on numerous occasions and while this has earned him a reputation
    in Ukraine, it's a fact thatBundesliga sides have to learn quickly
    and adjust accordingly to. Mkhitaryan is capable of picking out the
    perfect moment to shoot and while his footwork and movement make him
    a dangerous player in midfield, he does not have that aura of danger
    that other players like Arjen Robben or Franck Ribery have - not yet,
    anyway. It's a reputation that has been earned by the latter two and
    while Mkhitaryan is a new face in the Bundesliga, he will soon earn
    a name for himself as a dangerous long-shot specialist. He is also
    a very strong free kick taker, and has scored plenty of goals from
    well outside the box off a dead ball.

    These are Mkhitaryan's two goalscoring styles - shots from outside
    the box and tap-in goals from runs behind a defender. You will rarely
    see Mkhitaryan score off a header, or sway his way through a wall of
    defenders a la Lionel Messi. Instead, Mkhitaryan's talent in front of
    net is encompassed by these two styles of scoring. He's a one-touch
    player in the box and a menace outside of it. He lacks the conviction
    of Robben or Cristiano Ronaldo but he makes up for it with his ability
    to find space and slot goals home.

    He is consistently efficient and disciplined to the point of deception
    and flashy when needed - a perfect fit for Borussia Dortmund, who
    are much the same, slipping their way behind the likes of Real Madrid
    and making it to the Champions League final last season, winning the
    Bundesliga in recent years passed. A one-touch goal and a long-range
    drive, the yin and yang of Mkhitaryan's style, set on display for
    the Dortmund faithful to enjoy. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has arrived at
    Borussia Dortmund - Bundesliga defenders, keep an eye out.

    http://www.football.co.uk/borussia_dortmund/henrikh_mkhitaryan_s_two_goals_symbolize_his_playi ng_style_rss4394305.shtml

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