Brighton’s Iranian forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored a stunning acrobatic bicycle kick to hold Chelsea 1-1 at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday.
Jahanbakhsh joined the game in the 69th minute with his team trailing by a goal, but salvaged a point with an acrobatic strike six minutes from full time.
The Iranian international winger has struggled since becoming Brighton’s club-record signing in summer 2018, but two goals in the past games suggest that the 26-year-old is beginning to find his feet in Premier League.
Notably, Jahanbakhsh joined from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for a club record fee of around 17 million pounds (about $22.5 million) in July 2018.
It was Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea who drew the first blood in the 10th minute, but Jahanbakhsh stole the show in the waning moments.
See the goal:
😍 No words really needed here, enjoy!#BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/BCxf9J8Def
— Brighton & Hove Albion ⚽️ (@OfficialBHAFC) January 1, 2020
“It was the best goal of my career, but we will have to see if it becomes the goal of the season, as there will be a lot of good goals out there,” said Jahanbakhsh as quoted by Brighton and Hove Albion’s official website.
“When I found out I was going to play in the last game, I had a good feeling because I had been training well. I had a feeling that I could have an impact in this game too, and when Dunky gave me that ball, I tried to hit it as hard as possible. The only way to connect with it was just to bicycle kick it, and it went in the right direction.
“It’s a great feeling to be involved in such important games and I’ve been working hard to get my chance. It’s been a very tough time for me, but I’m very glad to turn it around in a great game,” he added.