EASTER weekend served up a glut of goals across Europe. But the three most outstanding strikes all came from the sometimes maligned Barclays Premier League. Wayne Rooney’s control-and-swivel volley in United’s deserved 3-1 win against Aston Villa and Bobby Zamora’s instinctive deft left chipped shot from a very tight angle in QPR’s shock 4-1 rout of West Brom at the Hawthorns are impressive strikes which will linger for a long time in memory.

And what about Jermain Defoe’s eye-watering volleyed stunner for Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby or any of Arsenal’s four beauties against Liverpool?

But all these goals are bested by Stoke’s Charlie Adam’s incredible 60-yard looping shot which caught arguably one of the best goalkeepers of the modern game Thibaut Courtois cold in Chelsea’s hard-fought 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge.

Receiving a pass in his half, Scotland international Adam paced it once before releasing a ferocious left foot missile which rose for long period before magnificently curling and dipping over the fast back-tracking Courtois in Chelsea goal.

I have seen a lot of incredible long rangers from outfield players. And I have scored uncountable number of jaw-dropping goals from the distance on video game consoles. But none of them would come close to Charlie’s wonder-bolt on the Bridge.

David Beckham’s and Wayne Rooney’s (both for Man United), Xabi Alonso’s (twice for Liverpool) and Luis Suarez’s (against Norwich City) are some of the numerous wondrous goals we have been blessed to witness. But even they all would pale in comparison to Adam’s fabulous strike which I tip to win the goal of the season, if not FIFA’s goal of the year.

Maybe you have seen better long range goals. Why not share your tasty experience with me next week.

REFS ERRORS CONTINUE UNABATED!

BPL refs didn’t consider us for an itch-free Easter weekend as they continued their catalogue of erroneous officiating at various centres. But thank goodness, none of their bad calls proved decisive to the final result of matches.

Perhaps the biggest of the howlers came at Old Trafford where hosts Man United were denied a stonewall penalty. United’s captain Wayne Rooney beat Aston Villa’s last man Kierran Clarke and was through on goal when he went down after the defender pulled him from behind.

Rooney went down, highly expecting an obvious penalty; Villa’s bench and fans held their breath for what could have been a pen and a straight red card for the defender. But to everybody’s surprise, ref Roger East waved play on! Roo banged the turf severally in bitter frustration. I wouldn’t know why East failed to spot the infringement. But I was baffled and shocked that his assistant who was nearer the incident failed to spot the foul too.

The second big poor call of the weekend was Swansea’s second goal scored by Bafetimbi Gomis in their 3-1 rout of visiting Hull City. The Swans hitman got a brace in the match but his first strike had controversy written all over it as he came from an offside position to capitalise on a muddled-up in Hull defence.

The fact that Gomis moved towards the ball from an offside position even before Hull defenders futilely attempted to clear it meant the assistant ref should have raised his flag. Well, the flag didn’t come and Gomis buried his first goal almost effortlessly.

The final big wrong call of the weekend came at the Emirates where Arsenal’s right full-back Hector Bellerin escaped a certain second yellow card after scything down Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling in the box. Ref Anthony Taylor duly awarded the already-beaten visitors a deserved penalty but failed to issue the young defender a second booking which could have ensured an interesting finale.

To rub salt upon Reds injury, Emre Can got a deserved second yellow for a poor foul charge on substitute Danny Welbeck, and Liverpool’s 10 men eventually conceded a late fourth goal to give the scoreline a truer reflection of proceedings.

But the fact that these decisions generally did not affect the final outcome of the matches involved should not mask the disturbing spate of abysmal officiating this season. One can only hope things improve drastically from next season.