Ranking Mohamed Elneny's spectacular Arsenal goals

In Friday's friendly with German second-tier side Nuremberg, Elneny lashed an unstoppable effort into the top corner from a good 30 yards to level the scores at 2-2, and he was unlucky not to have made it a brace for himself on the day.

A beaming smile appeared on the face of the Egyptian when he was asked by Arsenal Media if he was capable of only scoring long-range thunderbolts rather than tap-ins, as he revealed that he would always stay behind after training to perfect his craft.

Elneny has developed a reputation among Arsenal fans for only scoring 'bangers', and Gooners can look forward to another season of Elneny taking on shots from distance following his contract renewal.

All five of his competitive goals for the club each have something special about them, and here, Sports Mole ranks Elneny's spectacular Arsenal strikes since Arsene Wenger brought him to the club from Basel in January 2016.

6. BATE Borisov - December 2017

Seeking to confirm their first-placed finish in their Europa League group during the 2017-18 campaign, Arsenal tore Belarusian giants BATE Borisov to shreds at the Emirates thanks to a fine midfield performance from Jack Wilshere.

The newly-retired Englishman had struck alongside Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Mathieu Debuchy and a Denis Polyakov own goal, and Wenger seemingly had it in his mind to bring Elneny off before the Egyptian's fine goal.

Arsenal were already out of sight, but Elneny added some gloss to the scoreline after receiving the ball from the lively Wilshere with a first-time curling effort from about 15 yards out.

BATE goalkeeper Denis Scherbitski could do nothing about Elneny's pinpoint effort, as the Egyptian celebrated before being taken off for Joe Willock moments later.

5. Newcastle United - May 2021

Elneny's penchant for goals in Europe has been apparent for some time now, but even after a five-year spell at Arsenal, the midfielder had never scored in the Premier League.

That all changed behind closed doors at St James' Park against Newcastle United in May 2021, as Elneny took advantage of Granit Xhaka being forced to play at left-back during his initial career revival.

Hector Bellerin's surging run down the right-hand side ended with the Spaniard crossing for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who miscued horribly before the ball found its way to Elneny on the edge of the box.

Once again, the former Basel man did not need to take a touch to set himself as he fired home on the half-volley past Martin Dubravka to set Arsenal on their way to a 2-0 win, with Aubameyang making sure of the result in the second half.

4. Barcelona - March 2016

Five years on from their historic 2-1 win over Barcelona at the Emirates, there was to be no repeat of that spectacular evening for Arsenal in the 2015-16 Champions League last-16.

Barca claimed a 2-0 first-leg win in North London before Wenger's side attempted to turn the tie on its head at Camp Nou, which would prove to be a fruitless endeavour.

Neymar had put Barcelona ahead in the second leg, but Elneny's first goal for Arsenal would arrive soon after, as the midfielder curled an 18-yard effort beyond the reach of Marc-Andre ter Stegen from Alexis Sanchez's pass to at least give the travelling support a flicker of hope.

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi would quickly end any possibility of a dramatic Catalonia comeback for the Gunners, but that strike would signal the start of Elneny's list of screamers in red, as well as winning Arsenal's goal of the season poll for 2015-16.

3. Olympiacos - March 2021

Greek giants Olympiacos - and Youssef El-Arabi in particular - had already haunted Arsenal and Arteta once in the Europa League before, but Elneny helped to ensure that the Zeus's lightning would not strike twice in Piraeus.

Martin Odegaard had seemingly won the contest for goal of the day with his long-range opener in the last-16 first leg, and while Jose Sa will not want to watch that one back, there was nothing that the current Wolverhampton Wanderers number one could have done about Elneny's effort in the second period.

Arsenal found themselves 2-1 to the good thanks to Gabriel Magalhaes's header, and the Brazilian would lay the ball off to Elneny close to the halfway line, and the distance was far too much for him to take it on first time.

However, Elneny took the ball on the half-turn and drove forward at the Olympiacos defence, who backed off and allowed the Egypt international to fire a driven effort home from a good 25 yards.

Sa got a hand to Elneny's effort as it swerved away from him, but he could only help the ball on its way into the back of the net off the post before berating his defence for allowing the long-shot specialist to do what he does best.

2. Nuremberg - July 2022

Arsenal fans will hope that Elneny has not already used up his goal allowance for the season in a summer friendly, but even if his most recent strike proves to be the last he will score for Arsenal, it will forever be fondly remembered.

Those in attendance at the Max-Morlock-Stadion certainly got their money's worth on Friday, as Nuremberg went 2-0 up against a nervy Arsenal XI before Gabriel Jesus scored within 90 seconds of his introduction to reduce the deficit.

With 54 minutes on the clock, Eddie Nketiah's shot from inside the box could only find the legs of a Nuremberg defender, but the ball fell kindly to Elneny about 30 yards from goal.

Of course, the midfielder did not even need to take a touch before lashing home into the top left-hand corner, and his effort was appropriately described as a "howitzer" by the Arsenal commentator.

Gooners who made the journey to Germany enjoyed a close-up view of Elneny's wonder strike, and the 29-year-old went close to a second as Arsenal turned the screw to win 5-3.

1. Dundalk - December 2020

Those in white could only stand, watch or gaze in awe when Elneny hit arguably the finest goal he will ever score against Dundalk in the Europa League in December 2020.

Arsenal were already guaranteed to finish top of the group but did not rest on their laurels early doors, as Eddie Nketiah drew first blood before Emile Smith Rowe laid the ball back to Elneny.

Right foot. 35 yards out. You know the rest. Dundalk goalkeeper Gary Rogers may have been 39 years of age at the time, but a goalkeeper half his age would have been powerless to stop Elneny's postage-stamp strike.

The midfielder's effort unsurprisingly landed Elneny with another goal of the season award, and the shouts of "shoot!" should continue to ring loud around the Emirates whenever the Egyptian picks up the ball outside the box in the next 12 months.