Atalanta's Aleksei Miranchuk after scoring the fourth goal during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and Sampdoria in Bergamo, Italy Monday Feb. 28, 2022. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)
BERGAMO, Italy, March 1 (AP): Russia international Aleksei Miranchuk held his head down and didn’t celebrate after scoring the final goal in Atalanta’s 4-0 win over Sampdoria in Serie A on Monday.
Miranchuk’s goal came hours after Russia’s national team was suspended from qualifying matches for the World Cup, as Moscow was pushed toward pariah status in sports for its invasion of Ukraine.
In other circumstances, Miranchuk’s goal would have been worthy of quite a celebration, because it was extraordinary. He dribbled by four defenders — diverting some of them by shifting his view across the field for an instant — before scoring from the edge of the area.
Immediately after the goal, Miranchuk held his hands up to signify he wouldn’t celebrate then was quickly surrounded by teammates.
Miranchuk is friendly with Ukrainian teammate Ruslan Malinovskyi, who celebrated scoring in the Europa League on Thursday against Olympiakos by lifting his jersey to show a message reading “No war in Ukraine” on his undershirt.
“These days have been tough,” Atalanta midfielder Marten de Roon said. “Ruslan is having a rough time because his family and his city are in trouble. ... But they (Malinovskyi and Miranchuk) always talk together. There is nothing but friendship between them.”
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