Who was that masked man? No mystery, actually. It was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal who just laid claim to the season’s most advanced goal celebration – and certainly its first goal celebration in fancy dress. Having scored against Rennes in the Europa League, the striker reached behind an advertising hoarding for a drawstring bag, withdrew a Black Panther superhero mask, tugged it over his face and then stood with his arms crossed in what pundits in the BT Sport studio would have been quick to recognise as the “Wakanda forever” pose, honouring the Marvel character’s fictional homeland.
Afterwards, Aubameyang, 29, was said in several reports to have “revealed his reason” for this moment of pageantry. He enjoyed, apparently, the Black Panther movie, based on the comic strips, which came out last year; and the Panthers also happens to be the nickname of Aubameyang’s national side, Gabon.
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