Good decision!
From goalie perspective:
Imo elite sponge and other save related abilities just gives you way too many unrealistic saves when you're out of position or just too late to one tees etc.
Reason for funny looking goals against are weird animations, which have nothing to do with the abilities. And I think that is sadly just part of the game at this point. Rng just throws it at you when the code tells it's time for scoring😄 What I've tested without abilities, I had more balanced gameplay and more solid animations between the pipes.