Marko Arnautovic split opinion after his actions were spotted following his goal against San Marino.
Austria smashed San Marino 10-0 in Thursday's World Cup qualifier.
They led six-nil at the break, with former West Ham United and Stoke City star Arnautovic, now of Red Star Belgrade, among the scorers.
Two minutes after the interval, Arnautovic bagged his second goal of the night to make it 7-0 and immediately grabbed the ball to quickly restart the game.
Advert
But given the level of opposition and the flattering scoreline, his actions were questioned by some fans on social media as they claimed he was 'stat padding', while others hailed his mentality.
One X user slammed: "Bro wants to statpad."
A second argued: "Is Arnautovic's hunger for goals a sign of a true champion mentality?"
Why did Marko Arnautovic grab the ball after making it 7-0?
Arnautovic retrieved the ball because he was closing in on becoming Austria's all-time record goalscorer.
And he managed to score a third and fourth goal in the final minutes of his national team's World Cup qualifier to surpass Toni Polster.
Arnautovic's four-goal haul against San Marino improved his tally for Austria to 45 goals, taking him pass Polster, who scored 44 goals.
Incredibly, all 10 of Austria's starting outfield players against San Marino either scored or assisted during the match.
A San Marino fan account followed the action in Vienna on X and produced a series of hilarious tweets.
After Arnautovic's fourth goal to make it 10-0, the account wrote: "84’ Goal Austria. Arnautovic scores faster than I can tweet. Take it easy."
After the final whistle, the account joked: "Thank God it’s over."
Arnautovic will be aiming to add to his international goal tally when Austria resume their World Cup qualifying campaign on Sunday when they face Romania.
Topics: Fan Reactions, FIFA World Cup, Football
Nasir Jabbar