Spider-man and Michael Jackson came to the Premier League as goal celebrations made as many headlines as the goals over the weekend.
Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fee donned a Spider-man mask after scoring for Sunderland against Everton, while Newcastle striker Will Osula paid tribute to late singer Jackson.
Here, the Press Association looks at five memorable Premier League goal celebrations.
Enzo Le Fee (Sunderland)
Everton were the latest team to be caught in Sunderland’s web as the Black Cats won 3-1 to keep alive ambitions of European football.
French midfielder Le Fee put Sunderland 2-1 ahead nine minutes from time and immediately donned a Spider-man mask and imitated the superhero’s web-shooting hand gesture.
“Since I was young, I’ve liked Spider-Man – my favourite hero with my little brother, so it’s a sign for him,” Le Fee told Match of the Day.
Will Osula (Newcastle)
Jackson biopic Michael has been a hit in cinemas and some of the moves from the ‘King of Pop’ were recreated at St James’ Park on Sunday as Newcastle beat West Ham 3-1.
Danish forward Osula celebrated the first of his two goals by putting on a white sequinned glove, which famously formed part of Jackson’s stage attire.
The 22-year-old’s dance moves were no ‘Thriller’ for Sky pundit Roy Keane, who called the celebrations “ridiculous” and suggested Osula should keep them for a “nightclub in Newcastle”.
Jimmy Bullard (Hull)
Before Jimmy Bullard was making waves on ITV show ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ the former midfielder was raising eyebrows for his goal celebrations.
Hull manager Phil Brown made headlines for giving his players a half-time team talk on the pitch as they trailed 4-0 to Manchester City on Boxing Day 2008.
A year later Bullard scored to make it 1-1 against City and Hull’s players sat around while he pretended to give them a team talk, with Brown saying: “It was a fantastic celebration. Great comedy is about timing.”
Mario Balotelli (Manchester City)
Balotelli’s time in England with Manchester City and Liverpool was littered with controversy on and off the pitch.
Two days before a Manchester derby in October 2011 Balotelli had to escape from his burning house after letting off fireworks in the bathroom.
In a memorable nod to those antics, Balotelli scored the opener in City’s 6-1 win at Old Trafford and lifted up his jersey to reveal a T-shirt asking ‘Why always me?’
Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City)
Adebayor controversially moved from Arsenal to Manchester City in July 2009 – and less than two months later ran the length of the field to celebrate after scoring against his former club to give City a 3-1 lead.
Adebayor – who was angry over “being abused by people who six months ago were singing my name” – turned and sprinted 90 yards before sliding on his knees in front of the travelling supporters, who threw a range of projectiles in his direction.
Adebayor was fined £25,000 and given a two-match ban by the Football Association and apologised for his goal celebration, saying emotions had got the better of him.
