10 most controversial goal celebrations in football
10) Adebayor’s mad dash towards Arsenal fans
Saying Emmanuel Adebayor is an unpopular player, is an understatement. He seems to have this uncanny ability to make people hate him, no matter where he goes or what he does. So it was quite unsurprising that after scoring against his former club Arsenal in 2009 while wearing Manchester City colours, he decided to run the length of the field to celebrate in front of the travelling Arsenal fans.
Because what would make the fans who already hate you even angrier? That’s right, rubbing it in their face after scoring a goal.
Adebayor duly received a yellow card for his shenanigans and was charged with reckless behaviour by the FA. In the same match, he stamped on former teammate Robin van Persie, for which he received a three-game ban.
It’s like he had decided to be as unmanageable as possible for that particular day.
9) Luis Suarez diving in front of Moyes
Luis Suarez is controversy’s child, that is clear by now. But Suarez decided to show his funny side in the Merseyside Derby in October 2012, and the butt of the joke was Everton manager David Moyes.
Moyes’ pre-match comments about Suarez’s tendency to dive, which had earned Jack Rodwell a red card in the reverse fixture, seemed to have fired up the Uruguayan, who, after scoring an early goal, returned the favour to Moyes by diving in front of him. Luckily, the Liverpool striker escaped a booking.
Credit to David Moyes, though, who took the celebration in his stride and laughed it off.
Suarez, on the other hand, courted further controversy by treading on Sylvain Distin’s ankle late in the game. This time he was shown a yellow card.