Alan Shearer remains the Premier League’s leading scorer of all-time, with his 260 goals for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United making him the league’s most legendary striker.
It’s incredibly rare for a player to score over 30 goals in a Premier League campaign, with only nine players achieving that feat in the Premier League’s 33-year history.
Whittling the list down further, only Harry Kane has managed it twice – though Alan Shearer completed the feat three times over for Blackburn Rovers as they won the title before losing the Community Shield to Everton in 1995.
However, despite the record being Shearer’s career-defining streak, the England hero claims that his best-ever Premier League moment came against Everton.
Newcastle United FC v Manchester United FC - Premier League
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Alan Shearer thinks his volley against Everton for Newcastle was his best Premier League moment
In a Premier League game between Newcastle and Everton in 2002, Alan Shearer latched onto a looped header on the edge of the box and slammed home on the volley from distance to level the tie – which Newcastle later stole at the death.
And although he won the Premier League with Blackburn and remains the top goalscorer in its history, Shearer believes that his long-range volley against Everton was his best moment.
He told The Rest is Football: “I find this really difficult, because is it the best? I don’t know.
“The most important, or my favourite? I think that there are different categories.
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“I think my best ever goal was by volley for Newcastle against Everton at St. James’ Park. I would say that was my best goal.
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“I think my favourite goal would be when I broke my dad’s hero, Jackie Milburn, when I broke his record at Newcastle.
“But I think one of my most important ones would have been when I scored for England in Euro 1996, because I hadn’t scored for England for two years.”
Regardless of his achievements, that goal by Shearer will stand long in the memory of both Newcastle and Everton fans – albeit for different reasons.
Alan Shearer’s goal changed Everton’s trajectory under David Moyes
Back in the 2002-03 season, Everton were fighting for a place in European football after a strong start to the season.
The Toffees had been on a run of six wins in a row to take them third in the Premier League table under David Moyes in his first spell at the club by early December, and having taken a 1-0 lead in the north east, they were just five minutes away from a seventh-consecutive win.
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“Their second goal was a foul on me. He’s literally stood on my knee cap. I’m not going to go down that easy, but the referee’s mentioned something about it.”
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“I don’t know what more you have to do to get a penalty.”
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“I asked the referee and he said he didn’t feel it was a bookable offence. A lot of people who were here today would be stunned it was not a second yellow, including their manager who couldn’t wait to get him off.”
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Shearer’s strike changed the complexity of the game, but also their season. Li Tie’s unfortunate own goal seconds later saw Everton snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and from there, they only won one of their next seven games.
Everton tumbled from third and three points from top spot, to sixth – 13 points away from first, and out of the Champions League spots.
Some poor form meant a final day loss to Manchester United, coupled with Blackburn Rovers’ win away at Tottenham, was enough to deny Everton a first UEFA Cup campaign in 23 years.
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