TikTok, PSG and a quick goal: A kick-off trick goes through football

When Dominic Solanke scored a remarkable goal in December last year, no one could have guessed what the goal would trigger. In the top game of the Championship, the second English division, the second half between Fulham and Bournemouth had just started when the Bournemouth striker was already celebrating. With just four touches of the ball, the guests from the south of England had taken the home team by surprise at the venerable Craven Cottage. Only four players are needed for the game. After kick-off, player 1 throws the ball to player 2, who immediately passes it back to player 1. This drops the ball on player 3, who with a through ball puts it on player 4, who started low with the kick-off, in this case Dominic Solanke, who executed the ice-cold seven seconds after the whistle.

AFC Bournemouth media officials then did what should be done after a goal like this: they shared it on social media. The short video of Solanke’s goal has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on TikTok and seems to have inspired many clubs in Europe. As the first imitator, Real Madrid tried the trick. Both in the round of 16 against Paris St. Germain and in the semi-finals against Manchester City, the royals tried to surprise their opponents in the Champions League, but this looked anything but royal and failed in both cases.

New season, new copies of a kick-off trick

With the start of the new season, however, it seems that Europe is now trying to play the move. In the Dutch Eredivise, Sparta Rotterdam struck exactly the same pattern, Vito van Crooij putting his colors ahead after nine seconds against AZ Alkmaar on Matchday 2. Those responsible at Rotterdam made no secret of the fact that the move was not their own creation. The club shared the video of the goal on Twitter and thanked Bournemouth for the inspiration.

The idea arrived in France only a short time later: the star ensemble from Paris St. Germain overran the hosts in the away game in Lille. The ball was in the net just eight seconds after kick-off, a faster goal in Ligue 1 – but that shouldn’t bother Lille much after a 7-1 defeat. It is not known whether the experience from the game against Madrid or Dominic Solanke’s video was the decisive factor in the attack.

The hosts also tried the trick in the top game of the Premier League between Manchester United and Liverpool FC, but with rather modest success. Ironically, Bruno Fernandes, one of the finest technicians in the Red Devils team, stumbled the ball when trying to pass. Some Manchester United fans must have wondered whether the move with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who was willing to emigrate, would have worked. (Read the superstar’s sad quest for a new club and why nobody wants him here)

Because of Tiktok: Cliftonville learns the move an hour before kick-off

Cliftonville FC, a small Northern Irish club, put the crown on it all, albeit perhaps by accident: After a slightly short through ball, Cliftonville striker Ronan Hale completed the overhead kick after a few seconds to put Carrick Rangers ahead. Those responsible at Cliftonville also thanked Bournemouth on Twitter for the variant. This goal was not rehearsed either, the team only considered the move an hour before the start of the game. Analyst Damian McAuley had seen the move on TikTok, where it recently went viral due to mass use, and showed it to its players. “We all watched the video and wondered why we shouldn’t do it too. And luckily it worked the first time,” Hale told the “”.

AFC Bournemouth has now responded to the development. On TikTok there is a video collection of the moves of several clubs that copied Dominic Solanke’s goal at the beginning of December – sometimes successfully, sometimes less successfully. “Our kick-off procedure is now being copied around the world,” says the clip, which has been viewed more than six million times. But the makers left out one video: that of their own youth. Because the U16s also copied Dominic Solanke’s goal last weekend and were able to celebrate a goal against Northampton Town after just a few seconds.