5 of the most controversial goal celebrations in football

#2 Emmanuel Adebayor

Emmanuel Adebayor found himself in trouble after running the length of the pitch to taunt the Arsenal fans in his celebration

Scoring a goal against your old club is always going to be a little controversial, and it’s often hard for players to find the correct way to go about celebrating it. Some players outright refuse to celebrate a goal against their own club – and find themselves in hot water with their new fans for doing so – so perhaps a simple gesture would be best. Emmanuel Adebayor, on the other hand, did neither when he scored for new club Manchester City against his old side Arsenal in 2009.

Adebayor had taken a lot of abuse from Gunners fans for making the move to the Etihad, largely being accused of greed following his £25m move. In the Togolese striker’s mind, though, Arsenal had simply accepted a bid for him, and he didn’t deserve the abuse, particularly as his fellow former Gunner Kolo Toure had been clapped by the crowd.

And so when he scored as part of a 4-2 win for the Citizens, he decided to run the entire length of the pitch in order to slide on his knees and taunt the Arsenal fans. Naturally mayhem ensued, and in the end, Adebayor was fined £25,000 by the FA and banned for two matches for causing a potentially serious public order incident – although the FA’s commission also accepted that Adebayor had been taunted in a hostile manner.