Michael Olise free-kick vs Man Utd: Why didn’t he celebrate?
Olise #Olise
Why didn’t Michael Olise celebrate his stunning free-kick to equalise for Crystal Palace against Manchester United?
Olise produced a stunning left-footed effort that struck the underside of the crossbar before going in, leaving David de Gea with absolutely no chance.
It came in the 91st minute and rescued a point for Palace in incredible circumstances.
VIDEO: Michael Olise’s stunning free-kick vs Man Utd
Selhurst Park erupted. However, Olise calmly walked away from the ball and did a little fist pump before he was mobbed by his teammates.
Why didn’t he celebrate?
Pretty much every other player in world football would have gone crazy after scoring such a sensational free kick.
But not Olise.
Did he used to play for Man Utd and we just didn’t realise? Did he support the Red Devils?
None of the above.
Instead, Olise has always been like this.
In an in-depth feature from The Athletic in October 2021 after Palace signed him from Reading for £8 million.
Not much was known about the 19-year-old at the time so The Athletic asked those at Reading all about him.
And defender, Sean Morrison, alluded to the fact he often wouldn’t celebrate his goals.
“We’d say he’s a bit weird sometimes because when he scored goals, he sometimes wouldn’t celebrate,” Morrison revealed.
“We’d be like, ‘Mike, you’ve just scored an important goal and you’re just walking back?’. What’s he doing? Then he’d play two-touch with the manager (Paunovic) in the gym, he’d win a point in that, and he’d be shouting and celebrating, but on a Saturday, he’d score a goal in front of the home end and just stand there.
“We never really worked out why. He could never give us an answer but he’s just different; a special player.”
Turns out Olise just doesn’t fancy celebrating some of his goals. Fair enough.
Perhaps he knows what he’s capable of and he’s just too ice-cold to bother celebrating.
In the post-match analysis on Sky Sports, both Jamie Redknapp and Glenn Murray waxed lyrical about Olise’s genius. But both questioned the lack of a celebration.
“It was the best free-kick of the season,” Redknapp said.
“We’ve seen James Ward-Prowse, he has got a catalogue of these throughout the season and his career, but that is a stroke of genius.
“I just don’t understand why he has not celebrated. I scored a few free-kicks and my shirt was off, the lot. I was doing love bites, everything!
“That is as good as it gets and I’m sure deep down inside that he is buzzing, but what a free-kick and what a moment for them.
“I thought from a Palace point of view they produced a good performance for their manager and they needed it.”
Murray: The free kick deserved a celebrateion
Fellow pundit Glenn Murray added: “I think it deserved a celebration at least, I think that was the most low-key moment of the whole game because this free-kick is absolutely sumptuous, it’s brilliant to get it up and over the wall and just kiss off the bar and in.
“In all fairness De Gea was unstoppable all night, but this was unstoppable. It was something else.”
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(The Football Terrace)