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Football is a game characterised completely by moments that are breathtaking enough to make you stop and take note, or moments that shock you to no end. However, nothing is more dramatic in football than a player returning to score an important goal against his former team. Sometimes players do have a habit of coming back to haunt their former employers. Here are the 10 most iconic moments of players scoring against their former clubs.
#10 Aaron Ramsey vs Cardiff City
Ramsey acknowledges the Cardiff fans who applauded him following his brace
2013/14 was a spectacular season in the professional career of Aaron Ramsey. His performances for Arsenal saw him being regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. However, it all started for him at Cardiff City back in 2006, with whom he signed his first professional contract aged 16.
Ramsey was in devastating form when he met his former team for the first time. He scored the first and third goals and even refused to celebrate. He instead did the ‘Ayatollah’ out of respect for the reception the Cardiff City fans gave him throughout the game.
It was great to see such mutual respect being shown in a day and age where fans turn on ex-players very quickly.
#9 Marco Reus vs Borussia Mnchengladbach
Marco Reus became a regular for the German National team because of his impressive performances for Borussia Mönchengladbach. On his return to his old club, he showed exactly why Dortmund had paid a little over €17m to prise him away.
He scored two goals, both being spectacular in their own way. The first was a good finish after a sublime run penetrating the Mönchengladbach defence. But the second goal typified his brilliance; a thunderous shot from a tight angle into the top corner leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.
Truly a piece of Reus magic which was reluctantly applauded by even the Monchengladbach fans.
#8 Glen Johnson vs Chelsea
Glen Johnson saw his career stall during a four-year spell with Chelsea where he was in and out of the team. He then moved to Portsmouth and later resurrected his career at Liverpool.
He got one over his former employers when Liverpool visited Stamford Bridge in 2011, though. The England international scored a wonderful solo goal in the dying minutes to seal all three points for his side.
This result was significant because it ended Chelsea’s title hopes, leaving them 12 points behind league leaders Manchester City. It also saw Liverpool reach the same number of points as fourth-placed Chelsea.
#7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs Inter Milan
Having played for Inter Milan, where he scored 66 goals in 117 games and helped the club to two Serie A titles, Zlatan Ibrahimovi left for Barcelona. However, due to a deteriorating relationship with manager Pep Guardiola, he left Spain after just one season and returned to Milan, but this time with rivals AC.
He came face to face with his former team in a fierce derby and even won a penalty for his side. Stepping up to take a penalty in a derby can be a daunting task but not for Zlatan.
He stepped up and coolly slotted home before performing a Zlatan-esque celebration to quieten the San Siro crowd.
#6 Mario Gotze vs Borussia Dortmund
Having joined Dortmund as an eight-year-old and rising through the ranks there, it looked like Mario Götze’s future lay at the Signal Iduna Park. But in the summer of 2013, he moved to arch rivals Bayern Munich after they triggered his release clause.
Such was the atmosphere on his return to his former club that Götze warmed up for the match in the tunnel.
(Watch Mario Götze get booed as he came on the pitch for Bayern below.)
The famous son of Dortmund came back to haunt them by coming off the bench and scoring the first goal that put an end to the title race in Germany. Gotze chose not to celebrate despite being booed incessantly after he came on.
That seemed to matter little to the Dortmund fans as he went from fan favourite to public enemy No.1.
Gotze would eventually move back to Dortmund after warming the bench in Munich.
#5 Robin van Persie vs Arsenal
The ex-Arsenal captain had made the controversial £24 million move to their fierce rivals in 2012 when he realised Arsenal weren’t ambitious enough for him. After switching the red of Arsenal for the red of Manchester United, Robin van Persie has gone on to score thrice against his former team.
It took him less than three minutes to score in their first meeting at Old Trafford and he then went on to score a penalty in the return trip at the Emirates. Unlike the first two goals, he celebrated the third in spectacular fashion. He slid on his knees with his arms outstretched without a moment’s hesitation making it seem as if he had never played 9 seasons for Arsenal.
After going on to win the title in his very first season in Manchester, Arsenal fans know that selling the Dutchman was probably Arsène Wenger’s biggest blunder.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo vs Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Manchester United in 2003 as an unknown baby-faced teenager. When he left them for Real Madrid six years later in a then-world-record deal, he was one of the best players in the world. He owed United everything. It was a club close to his heart; one that had given him the platform to showcase his talent and realise his enormous potential.
During the 2013 Champions League knockout stages, Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford to face United and, predictably, found the net (he had also scored in the first leg). It was a crucial goal for his team but one that he refused to celebrate. He put his hands up in the air, almost apologising for a goal that seemed to have knocked out his former team.
Although it would have hurt him to see United go out, the affectionate reception he later received made it clear that the United faithful had forgiven him.
#3 Emmanuel Adebayor vs Arsenal
This makes the list more for the celebration than anything else. Many players refuse to celebrate a goal against their former clubs as a mark of respect. Emmanuel Adebayor is definitely not one of them.
He instead chose to sprint 90 yards to slide on his knees in front of the travelling Arsenal fans after scoring in City’s 4-2 win back in 2009. He was booked and later admitted to an FA charge for improper conduct which handed him a suspended two-match ban along with a £25,000 fine.
The Togo international had scored 62 goals in a successful 4-year spell at Arsenal but he surely burned his bridges with Arsenal after that celebration.
#2 Denis Law vs Manchester United
It doesn’t get more dramatic than this. It was the last game of the 1973/74 season and Manchester United needed a win to stay in the top flight.
Having scored 237 goals in over 400 games, Manchester United legend Denis Law returned to Old Trafford, but this time in the blue of local rivals Manchester City. And as fate would have it, it was his outrageous back-heel goal that relegated his former club after 37 years in the top flight.
Law didn’t celebrate and was so obviously upset that he was immediately substituted and never played league football again.
#1 Frank Lampard vs Chelsea
Frank Lampard became the first player to score against 39 different Premier League teams when he scored against Chelsea in his final season in Engand. Yes, Lampard scored against Chelsea. No, it wasn’t an own goal but rather the first goal of his loan spell with Manchester City.
The name Lampard has become almost synonymous with Chelsea Football Club; so much so that even the thought of seeing him play for another Premier League team seemed painful.
But just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for Chelsea fans, he came off the bench and came up with one of his trademark late runs into the box to latch onto a cross from James Milner and level the score.
It was a sight all too familiar for Chelsea fans. They had seen him score 211 goals in his 13-year stay at Stamford Bridge. There were no celebrations from Lampard. He looked just as shocked as the rest of us. But it looks like he got over it after receiving a standing ovation from both sets of fans at end of the game.
