Manchester United forward Joshua Zirkzee has revealed the inspiration behind his trademark celebration after his latest goal against Lyon.
Manchester United played out a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final clash with Lyon on Thursday evening.
Coming on in the 63rd minute, Joshua Zirkzee thought he’d won his side the game when he scored a great header in the 88th minute, but Rayan Cherki equalised in stoppage time.
Ever since Zirkzee scored on his debut in Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Fulham on the opening day, fans have come to know and love his trademark gun goal celebration.
There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding the origins of the celebration, and he’s finally given us the answer.
Zirkzee explains United gun celebration
There’s been speculation on whether the former Bologna striker is mimicking Serie A legend, Gabriel Batistuta, or if it’s a tribute to the film Django Unchained.
Speaking with Inside United, the Dutch forward said: “So the Django story is the accurate one.
“The Batistuta story is because it’s what I did in Italy, and it’s what he did in Italy as well. Maybe they said that I’m trying to copy him, but it’s not true.”
United’s number 11 bases his celebration off a scene where Christoph Waltz’s character teaches Django to shoot at a snowman.
On why he decided to use this celebration, he added: “It’s the part where he’s practising shooting, so that’s where it came from. But over time, with emotions, you know when you score, you’re just happy… I just have to [do it].”
More gun fingers to come?
We’ve only seen Zirkzee pull out his trademark celebration seven times this season, after a fairly poor start to his time at Old Trafford.
With both Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho both lacking confidence in front of goal, Zirkzee may have played his way into a place in the starting 11 over his danish team mate.
With Hojlund’s future at Old Trafford starting to look more and more uncertain as we approach the summer transfer window, we may see Zirkzee get more minutes.
Zirkzee looks set to start his first game in the Premier league since 9 March when United face Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.
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