Some say Bournemouth invented it, some say it began with EA Sport's FIFA 14. The creator aside, the kick-off routine which has been the cause of a number of goals in recent weeks, has become a leading topic of discussion on social media.
The move sees the side who have possession at kick-off play a couple of neat passes between three players in and around the centre circle, while an attacking player sprints up the pitch in between the centre-backs. A long ball is then unleashed upfield, causing mayhem in the defence and hopefully a goal.
The most recent and notable exponent of the routine are Paris St. Germain, who used it yesterday in their 7-1 thumping of Lille, which lead to the fastest goal in Ligue 1 history for Kylian Mbappe, after just seven seconds.
GOATED Kick-Off Routine
WHAT A START! 😱
It's taken Kylian Mbappé just 8 SECONDS to open the scoring for PSG against Lille 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/ziibIszhWL— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 21, 2022
Cliftonville used the exact same routine last weekend in their 3-2 defeat of Carrick on Saturday.
The Belfast club tweeted out a video of the goal, and thanked Sparta Rotterdam and Bournemouth for the inspiration.
Rotterdam had scored from the kick-off routine the week before in their Eredivisie win over AZ Alkmaar, with the Dutch club also sending their thanks to Bournemouth.
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☘️ Thanks for the inspiration, @SpartaRotterdam and @afcbournemouth. 👍 https://t.co/VGUiciy6ut pic.twitter.com/yTVIj33Rhj
— Cliftonville FC (@cliftonvillefc) August 21, 2022
Bournemouth had used identical kick-off routine to great effect for a goal against Fulham in last season's Championship. This has lead to some suggesting that the English club are the inventors of the move.
In a more light-hearted fashion, others have compared the move to a kick-off routine bug from FIFA 14.
Who Invented The Kick-Off Routine ?
There were also suggestions that Bournemouth were eager to employ the move in Sunday's defeat to Arsenal, but that the London club were aware of their intentions and used their press to shut the opportunity down.
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