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Riyad Mahrez Pulls Off Ronaldinho's Off-The-Crossbar Nike Advert Stunt During Everton Game

Riyad Mahrez Pulls Off Ronaldinho's Off-The-Crossbar Nike Advert Stunt During Everton Game

Manchester City winger makes the impossible possible.

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Riyad Mahrez pulled off Ronaldinho's famous Nike advert crossbar trick - but for real this time - in Manchester City's final league game of the season.

Brazilian magician Ronaldinho's Nike Tiempo ad back in 2005 became the first YouTube video ever to amass over one million views. Although the video - which featured Ronnie bouncing the ball off a crossbar and back to himself again - was widely believed to have been assisted by a bit of a camera trickery.

But Algerian ace Mahrez needed no such help during Man City's 5-0 win over Everton as he recreated the effort (or at least part of it).

With City already 2-0 to the good inside the first 15 minutes, Mahrez picked up the ball outside the Everton box and pinged a wonderful shot towards goal.

It bounced off the crossbar rather than going in, but the ball arrived back at Mahrez's feet in a perfect arc - and he instantly controlled it in exactly the same spot he took his original shot (1:38 below). Remarkable stuff.

Of course, he'd have to have bounced it off the crossbar and back to himself a few more times to really match Ronaldinho's effort.

But - and we can't emphasise this enough - this was in an actual football match and without the aid of any retakes or special effects. So we still think it's pretty amazing.

Mahrez has been in sensational form during the late part of City's season, scoring three goals across the two legs of his side's Champions League semi-final victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

The winger's main contribution after Sunday's crossbar theatrics was another crowd-pleaser: with Sergio Aguero waiting to come off the bench, Mahrez deliberately put the ball out of play as soon as he got it so the Argentine could get on the pitch ASAP.

Aguero then arrived, a swap for Mahrez no less, and the Algerian got to watch Man City's record goalscorer add two more to his tally during his final home game at the club.

All this while knowing he has a Champions League final to come on Saturday and also he's now basically the Algerian Ronaldinho. Not a bad afternoon's work, Riyad.

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Topics: Manchester City, Riyad Mahrez, Ronaldinho, Premier League