5 of the most creative set-piece routines

#1 Rooney, Giggs and Ronaldo’s clever corner

This set-piece routine, unfortunately, didn’t lead to a goal, as the officials taking charge of the Premier League match in 2008/09 between Manchester United and Chelsea simply didn’t understand what United’s trio of stars – Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo – were attempting to do. But upon a rewatch, it’s a true moment of genius from all involved and the goal almost certainly should’ve stood.

Late in the first half, United were awarded a corner. Rooney took the ball over to the corner flag and gently rolled it with his heel, barely moving it and apparently calling for Giggs to take the kick instead. But when Giggs reached the ball, rather than delivering the corner, he dribbled it to the edge of the box before crossing for Ronaldo to head home while Chelsea’s players stood and watched. In reality, Rooney had already taken the corner – it was that gentle roll that everyone had chosen to ignore.

Referee Howard Webb disallowed the goal – apparently proving to be totally clueless as to what United had done – but thankfully justice came through as United re-took the corner, and this time Nemanja Vidic headed a goal instead. In reality, though, this should’ve gone down as one of the all-time great set-piece goals, but even with the goal disallowed, it remains a truly brilliant and creative set-piece routine.