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29th Sep 2018

Eden Hazard reveals why he will never do a knee slide celebration again

Eden Hazard loves a knee slide after scoring a great goal, but has admitted he needs to stop for the sake of his legs' wellbeing

Reuben Pinder

It has been his go to celebration for years

Eden Hazard scores a lot of goals. And this season he is on course for his most prolific season in Chelsea blue since he signed for the club in 2012, with six goals under his belt already.

He has often celebrated significant goals with a perfectly executed knee slide. He pulls it off so well that he even tops it off by getting back up before he slides off the pitch so he can hug his teammates. That is a man who knows how to do a knee slide.

But sadly – for celebration enthusiasts anyway – it looks like the Belgian forward will not be using the celebration anymore, after he revealed to Chelsea TV that he “needs to stop”.

“Look, look, the celebration – the sliding knee,” Hazard said to Chelsea TV, gesturing to his bruised legs. “I need to stop this.”

“My knees – they are on fire! No more of this celebration.”

Hazard’s tendency to go on solo dribbles has sometimes attracted criticism, with some fans labelling him selfish. But when you’re as good at dribbling as he is, why not?

“If I see that there is no solution, I go on my own,” Hazard said. “So, in my mind, it is just to make the right decision.”

Chelsea welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge this weekend, just three days after beating the Reds at Anfield in the Carabao Cup thanks to a brilliant solo goal from Eden Hazard.

He will be hoping to make an equally significant impact on Saturday, especially after recent comments from Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, who claimed that with a bit more application in training, Hazard can become the best player in the world.

But don’t expect to see the knee slide tomorrow.

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