Jason Puncheon has been the butt of his teammates’ and fans’ jokes since Jan. 21. On Saturday, he got even.
Puncheon scored an early goal in Southampton’s 3-1 win over Manchester City and celebrated by pretending to wipe his rear end.
Some may think the gesture was in bad taste, but the Southampton winger was just giving a cheeky (for lack of a better word) response to some good-natured ribbing that he endured for a few weeks.
Last month, Puncheon was playing in Southampton’s Premier League home game against Everton. At one point in the second half, he ran off the field and headed straight to the dressing room … because nature was calling.
A few minutes later, he returned to the field and the home fans at Southampton’s St. Mary’s Stadium began chanting “Jason Puncheon, he just took a s—.” Southampton fans have repeated the chant during subsequent games, and Puncheon takes it in stride.
The goal Puncheon scored Saturday was his first since the January incident and his fourth of the season. It gave the 26-year-old a platform to answer the songs, so he used it.
Southampton fans seemed to love it, and they responded with a new chant: “He s—s when he wants, Jason Puncheon, he s—s when he wants.”
American sports announcer Joe Buck might frown upon such shenanigans, but we’ll let them slide and file it under “fans and players just having a little bit of fun.”
Watch Puncheon’s celebration in the video below.
Have a question for Marcus Kwesi O’Mard? Send it to him via Twitter at @NESNsoccer, NESN Soccer’s Facebook page or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
