Andre-Pierre Gignac didn’t just play a big role in eliminating New York City FC from the Concacaf Champions League with a goal and an assist in Tigres UANL’s comfortable 4-0 second leg quarterfinal win, the French attacker threw some shade the Cityzens way as well.
Gignac’s goal on the half-hour Tuesday night doubled Tigres’ lead and he followed it up with a celebration that fans of the New York Red Bulls surely fondly remembered.
Gignac slid toward the corner flag and then doubled back to lean on the goal post, a tribute to Thierry Henry, the former Red Bulls legend and coach of the Montreal Impact, who were eliminated earlier at Exploria Stadium by Olimpia.
“Since Thierry Henry was eliminated a little bit earlier, I was a bit disappointed for him so I thought I was going to the celebrate on the post like he celebrated because he is from the New York Red Bulls and their rivals are NYCFC. It’s the derby,” Gignac said in Spanish, before adding in English. “New York is red.”
That celebration, which would be known as "Henrying" was brought out for Henry's 400th career goal in 2013.
Tigres advance to Saturday’s semifinals, where they face Olimpia. Had the Impact rallied to reach the semifinals, Gignac said he had a celebration planned for that as well.
“If Montreal had won, I would have celebrated a goal in his face,” Gignac said. “So this is better than me celebrating against him in his face.”
