Lingard Explains Dab Goal Celebration

Jesse Lingard brought the ‘dab’ dance craze into English football with his goal celebration at St James’ Park earlier this month and the Manchester United star has hinted he may perform it again if he scores during Friday’s Emirates FA Cup fourth-round tie against Derby County.

The dab is an import from the United States and is widely credited to a rap group from Atlanta called Migos, although it only became a viral hit in American culture when Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton began performing it every time his side scored a touchdown in the NFL.

Since then, the dance move has also been performed by a number of American sports stars including basketball legend LeBron James. Even Hillary Clinton, a potential candidate to be the next president of the United States, tried the dance out during a recent television appearance.

Lingard's former United team-mate Paul Pogba has popularised the dab in Serie A with Juventus and this is how Jesse first noticed the craze. Speaking to ManUtd.com ahead of this Friday’s trip to Pride Park, the winger explained his celebration and suggested it may reappear if he scores again.

“It’s just trending at the moment,” Jesse said. “A lot of people are doing it. I’ve seen Pogba do it and knew I had to do it. At the time, I didn’t think about it but as soon as I scored I thought I might as well do it – it’s just a dance. We’ll have to see if I score on Friday – maybe it will come out again!”

On Wednesday, Lingard posted a photo of himself performing the dab alongside United mascot Fred the Red on his personal Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/p/BBCfwmpwci9/) with the caption: “Fred the Red trying to hit that dab!”