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via Reuters

via Reuters

Michail Antonio is proving his worth day in and day out as a soccer player. The West Ham striker has incredible stats thanks to his performances for West Ham in the past few seasons. The striker has been phenomenal this season as well, scoring 8 goals in 19 appearances for West Ham.

In the Premier League away match against Crystal Palace, Antonio scored the opening goal for the Hammers in 22 minutes and celebrated in an epic style quite known to the gamers. Antonio later revealed in the post-match interview that the inspiration for the way he’d celebrated came from playing Mortal Kombat.

Antonio celebrates in Mortal Kombat style after scoring against Crystal Palace

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Antonio has been quite a player on and off the field. While on the pitch, his thirst for goals is endless, pushing him to play better, and off the pitch, he plays video games. In the match against West Ham, Antonio scored the opening goal and celebrated by diving like a torpedo in the corner of the field. In the post-match interview, Antonio revealed his reason for this celebration.

During the interview, as reported by DailyMail, he says, “So when I was playing Mortal Kombat I was Raiden, and I said I was gonna do his celebration which is where he’s flying across and pushes someone out the way.”

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Antonio is quite well known for his unique celebrations and pulled another geeky reference in a match against Tottenham as well. Back in 2019, West Ham defeated Spurs with their first home defeat in the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and Antonio found a unique way to celebrate this goal.

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Antonio scored a howler in the second half of the match and quickly ran towards the corner flag, and then he did something similar to Keanu Reeves from The Matrix. This was a special reference to the bullet dodge scene. Antonio even went on to photoshop himself as Neo and posted a picture on Instagram with a witty caption, “Michail AntoNeo.” 

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As Antonio continues to create wonders for the Hammers, West Ham sits fifth on the Premier League table, two places above Manchester United and one place above local rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. The Hammers have been on a wonderful run this season, and fans hope they continue to perform well.

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