Football fans love wonder strikes, but West Ham supporters have been relatively deprived of such spectacles in the first two seasons since promotion to the Premier League in 2012.
But after only five competitive fixtures in the club’s third season back, Enner Valencia’s exquisite finish against Hull City is the fourth long-range goal the team has scored.
Mauro Zarate and Stewart Downing gave the fans two wonderful goals against Crystal Palace while Mark Noble was rewarded for trying his luck against Southampton with a fortunate deflection.
Compare that to the 2013/14 campaign, where the club scored only five goals from outside the box in open play, or the meagre four goals scored in the entire 2012/13 season.
Is this newfound long-range lethality another sign of an evolving style of football at West Ham?
A key criticism of Sam Allardyce has been around the perception his teams rarely shoot or score from outside the 18-yard box.
For a frustrated fan base already at odds with the manager, this was another point of contention. Only the now departed Mohamed Diame seemed prepared to fire when the opportunity presented itself, although the majority of his strikes sailed harmlessly into the crowd.
It is also linked with the common misconception Allardyce fines players who shoot from range, something Kevin Nolan refuted in a 2007 interview with BBC Sport.
“This all started a couple of seasons ago and was related to Jay-Jay Okocha’s shooting accuracy,” Nolan said.
“The gaffer said that he would have to fine him because he was missing the target so often.
“He now has a theory that a large percentage of shots from outside the penalty area miss the target and thus do not lead to goals.
“The manager is now insistent that if you shoot from outside the area you hit the target – but there are no fines involved”.
During the 2011/12 Championship season, the club scored 13 long-range goals, albeit in a lower division and with a greater number of fixtures.
Jack Collison, Gary O’Neil, Kevin Nolan and Nicky Maynard were among those on target in a series of memorable strikes.
Who could forget the howitzer scored by Ricardo Vaz Te in a six-nil mauling of Brighton, or the birth of a loaded chant aimed towards Millwall fans when Winston Reid won the derby?
Though frustrating when they miss, thunderbolts that split the net invariably get the crowd fired up and can be the catalyst for a fierce atmosphere.
Hammers’ have been yearning for excitement, and the encouraging signs from the talent brought in over the summer are that this could be delivered in droves over the course of the season.
