Neal Maupay mocked one of his former Everton teammates for copying Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic celebration.
After sparking two separate confrontations with Tottenham’s James Maddison and Manchester City’s Kyle Walker this season, Maupay has developed a reputation as one of the Premier League’s most successful wind-up merchants.
Naturally, upon a visit to SPORTbible towers, we asked the Brentford striker to rank the Premier League’s “best s***house” moments in history from a selection that included Martin Keown’s goading of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Emmanuel Adebayor infamous celebration against Arsenal in 2009.
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One famous “s***house’ incident Maupay was not a fan of, however, was when former Everton team-mate Andros Townsend copied Ronaldo’s iconic celebration after scoring at Old Trafford.
In the 2021/22 campaign, upon netting in a 1-1 draw against United, Townsend emulated the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s ‘SIU’ celebration in front of the away end.
Speaking exclusively to SPORTbible on the incident, Maupay said: “I saw that moment last year when I signed for Everton. People were still talking about it when we played Manchester United.
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“So I went on the internet and I looked for it. For me, that’s a big no. I’m not having it.
“You’re playing against arguably one of the greatest players of all time. He’s scored a thousand goals and you get one goal while he’s on the bench.
“He probably doesn’t even know you. He’s Ronaldo, right? If Ronaldo doesn’t know me then fair enough.
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“To do his celebration? For me, he’s too big for that so that’s a big no.”
Speaking to ITV months later, Townsend explained that the celebration almost cost him an opportunity to receive Ronaldo’s shirt after the game.
Townsend said: “He came on as a sub and honestly I couldn’t focus on the game until I asked him for his shirt. During the game, I waited for a corner. Bizarrely, I was marking him.
“I waited for a corner and asked him ‘Can I have your shirt after?’ And after that, I got it out of my head and I could focus on the game and thankfully I ended up scoring in that game.
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“He said yes and then after I scored and done the SIU, I managed to get it [Ronaldo’s shirt] but he wasn’t as accommodating.”
Topics: Brentford, Cristiano Ronaldo, Everton, Football, Manchester United, Premier League
Chris Byfield