Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang loves superheroes. And on Thursday night, he became one for Arsenal fans as he helped overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit to beat Rennes 3-0 and progress to the Europa League quarter-finals.
The 29-year-old scored as twice and also teed up Ainsley Maitland-Niles as Arsenal kept their chances of a big trophy this season alive. The Gunners quickly had the early goal they sought to get back in the tie as Aaron Ramsey’s low cross was swept home by Aubameyang.
The French-born Gabon international was also involved in Arsenal’s second 10 minutes later as well. And 18 minutes from time, Arsenal had a cushion when Sead Kolasinac’s wonderful low cross left Aubameyang with a simple task to tap home his 22nd goal of the season.
Then came the celebrations, the kind he had popularised during his time at Dortmund. He pulled out a Black Panther mask, from the Oscar-nominated Marvel film and did the crossed-handed gesture that has come to be seen as a ‘Black Power salute’.
“I needed a mask which represents me and that’s the Black Panther. In Gabon, we call the national team the Panthers,” he said after the match.
The striker has previously celebrated goals with Batman and Spiderman masks, but this one was special to him. He even changed his social media photos to show his new mask.
Here’s a look at how at how Aubameyang’s superheros masks have evolved, from Dortmund to Arsenal and DC to Marvel.
The ‘Wakanda forever’ celebration was actually planned to be for a more iconic night, but he didn’t get to use it against Manchester United last week when they ended their unbeaten run.
Leaving you with this compilation of his goal celebrations in Bundesliga
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