Paul Merson lauds his son's 'unreal' finish as non-league star scores 'outrageous' goal

Arsenal legend turned Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has lauded his son's goal as 'unreal' after non-league star scores stunner for non-league Hanworth Villa

Ex-Arsenal star Paul Merson has lauded his son’s unbelievable goal for non-league side Hanworth Villa.

Sam Merson scored an incredible goal for the eighth-tier Isthmian League South Central team on Tuesday. The 29-year-old proved he’s a real chip off the old block of the former England international.

Match footage from Hanworth Villa’s clash against Farnham Town showed the moment that Merson opened the scoring after just four minutes as a long ball was clipped up towards him.

The striker chased the ball into the channel between the left-back and centre-back, controlling the dropping ball on the full and turning 360 degrees to face the away side’s goal.

Merson’s flick sent the ball wide towards the corner of the penalty box, but the marksman only had one thing in his mind as he caught the ball perfectly on the volley. His shot looped through the air and dropped narrowly under the crossbar, leaving goalkeeper Zaki Oualah stunned.

Sam’s famous father reposted the footage of the goal to X, proudly adding the caption: “What a goal last night. Unreal Sam Merson." Football fans echoed Paul’s praise as one fan wrote: “Learnt it from the best, Merse!”

A second said: “I don’t think it’s crazy to say this should be a Puskas nominee at the very least. Wow.” A third added: “That’s is outrageous! Wow!” While a fourth joked: “He takes after his mum … take a bow son.”

Paul enjoyed an illustrious career that saw him play 21 times for England and play 417 times for the Gunners, scoring 99 times. Merson later went on to showcase his magic at Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth. The 56-year-old came out of retirement in 2019/20 to play a handful of games for Hanworth Villa.

Despite the stunning goal, the Villains were pegged back to level terms by the table-topping visitors, who equalised before half-time to draw 1-1.

Merson leads Hanworth Villa’s scoring ranks this season with 16, and his brilliance is sure to be key to their play-off push. The Hounslow side are only one point off the top five with 12 games to play.