Opposition fans will always try to put a penalty taker off – but one supporter went the extra mile to try to stop his side conceding.
Wolverhampton Wanderers hosted Bournemouth at Molineux on Saturday, with the Cherries claiming all three points with a 4-2 away win.
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Justin Kluivert netted his first ever hat trick of penalties in the Premier League clash, creating Premier League history in the process.
That was despite a Wolves fan in the stand doing his best to stop him from doing so.
As the Cherries man stepped up to mark his treble from the spot, cameras caught sight of a supporter who had stripped down to his pants.
The supporter had his legs and stomach out in full view, lifting his coat up as Kluivert prepared to shoot.
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The 25-year-old was unfazed, though, and rolled his effort into the net and wheeled away to celebrate.
On the bright side for the fan, at least it was a reasonably mild November day in the Midlands on Saturday.
And fans on social media found the whole ordeal hilarious.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures!” one wrote on X.
A second quipped: “Different way of trying to put someone off taking a penalty.”
Just like supporters couldn’t help but look at the stripped-down fan, those inside the ground will have been glued to the crazy start to the game at Molineux.
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Kluivert fired in from the spot in just the third minute. Wolves’ Jorgen Larsen then equalised in the fifth minute before Milos Kerkez put the Cherries back in front three minutes later.
Bournemouth then went 3-1 up through Kluivert’s second penalty before 20 minutes had been played.
Larsen struck again for the home side to half the deficit in the second half, but Kluivert’s final spot kick five minutes later ensured Andoni Iraola’s side sealed the win.
£40million striker Evanilson won all three spot-kick for the Cherries, with him being brought down by Sa twice.
The Wolves goalkeeper was held back by security for confronting his own supporters on Saturday as tensions rose during their defeat.
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves, who have been in the top flight since 2018, sit third from bottom after Crystal Palace’s late equaliser against Newcastle on Saturday.
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Bournemouth, meanwhile, sit 11th in the league.
Iraola admitted after the game that he almost didn’t let his penalty taker take the final spot kick.
Asked about the treble of penalties, he said: “I don’t remember it happening before, it has to be difficult, especially the last one – I was not completely sure I should allow him to take the third one.
“He is good, I suffered him in Spain [Kluivert spent a season on loan at Valencia while Iraola was with Rayo Vallecano] and I remember very well.
“It is difficult I suppose, every time you shoot the first one, you give information to the keeper.
“You have been preparing in the week, he has had two different approaches in the first two, I was not fully sure in the third one on what he was going to do but he has been very, very good.
“I suppose he would not have been happy but in the end I have to think of the points.
“I didn’t take the decision to say anything. I hoped they would decide the right thing, today he was full of confidence.”
We’ll never know if the Wolves’ fan’s distraction technique would have worked if a different man took the spot kick…