Gabriel Magalhaes has seemingly confirmed speculation that his goal celebration against Sporting CP was a Batman reference, after updating his social media profile.
Gabriel Magalhaes made a few headlines after Arsenal’s win over Sporting CP last week, not just for his goal, but for the way he celebrated it.
The defender ran over towards the corner flag before locking his fingers and covering his face, in a similar fashion to that of Sporting goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres.
Many assumed that Gabriel was mocking Gyokeres by copying his celebration, but others pointed out that the player covered his eyes with his hands. Gyokeres usually covers his mouth, in a reference to the Batman character Bane.
Some Arsenal fans speculated that perhaps Gabriel was actually putting a spin on Gyokeres’ celebration rather than just copying it, covering his eyes to mimic Batman’s mask.
When Gabriel repeated the celebration against West Ham United, he covered his eyes once again.
The player himself has now fueled those theories by changing his Instagram picture to an image of himself dressed as Batman.
As for why Gabriel wanted to copy – or put a spin on – Gyokeres’ celebration, fans have suggested that it might have been as revenge for Arsenal’s previous European elimination by Sporting.
Back in 2023, Arsenal were knocked out of the Europa League by Sporting, despite having led the tie in the first half.
Granit Xhaka had given the Gunners the lead and celebrated with a hand to his nose, a signal to his young daughter. Pedro Goncalves then mocked the celebration after the game by doing it himself.
This time around, Gabriel seemingly wanted to ensure the Sporting players were on the end of some mimicry. It’s all delightfully petty.