Season Highlights: Neymar's Rainbow Flick That (Eventually) Led to a Booking

You could argue that Neymar begins taunting the opposition from the chair of his barbers. But in a Ligue 1 match this season, Montpellier didn't have to wait long before the neon-haired Brazilian began toying with them.

With three minutes on the clock and deep in Paris Saint-Germain's half, he swung his right boot over the ball, causing three players to rapidly turn their back before Neymar coolly rolled a pass sideways.

Yet it wasn't the Brazilian's actions that day which provoked the most outrage, but those of the man wearing something almost as lurid as Neymar's hair, as the orange-clad referee booked PSG's number ten, seemingly, for showboating.

At the end of the second half, after Montpellier boots had connected with Neymar more often than the ball, the subject of this robust treatment attempted an audacious - but typically characteristic - rainbow flick by the corner flag. Following one of the rare moments when the Brazilian's tricks hadn't come off, referee Jerome Brisard strode over.

Initially Neymar's reaction was one of confusion, but it swiftly turned to rage as the official made the universal gesture of 'no more' with both hands in response to a harmless attempt at beating an opponent. Neymar's protestations earned him the booking, but in an increasingly rare moment given his off-field proclivities, the general consensus was that the 28-year-old had been harshly treated.

Punishing a player for adding a spark to any game, let alone a routine thrashing of a mid-table Ligue 1 side, is bizarre, but the circumstances surrounding the incident make the decision even more baffling.

Firstly, it's Neymar. The then pink-haired maestro hasn't exactly earned himself a reputation for having a lack of flair, and even the opposition were expecting this sort of behaviour. Prior to the match, Montpellier's Andy Delort had complained to Le Parisien about the Brazilian's approach, explaining: “Whether it's Neymar or someone else, whatever, he's just a man, even if he's an extraordinary player. He doesn't need to mock his opponents."

Incidentally, Neymar nutmegged Delort inside ten minutes.

Secondly, Neymar's failed rainbow flick came when the score was just 1-0, with more than half the match still to be played, so it wasn't as though the Brazilian was mercilessly rubbing his opponent's nose in a drubbing. The game ended 5-0, but going into the break, Neymar was still preoccupied with the supposed injustice he was on the receiving end of.

Away from the ire of the crowd but caught by French television, Canal+ (via Goal) reported that Neymar's search for an explanation of his booking - which he conducted in Portuguese - was met with a curt retort of 'speak French' from the fourth official. Neymar, now exacerbated by another member of the refereeing team, replied: "Parle français... Mon cul."

That's 'speak French...my a**' to English speakers.

Ten minutes into the second half, Neymar assisted Kylian Mbappé to make it 4-0 as the Brazilian continued to exact his own retribution with the ball at his feet.

However, Neymar missed PSG's next four fixtures, supposedly with a bruised rib which he sustained in the Montpellier clash. Yet, he was healthy enough to throw himself a lavish birthday party the day after the game - continuing a phenomenal sequence of coincidental injuries around this special date.

Nevertheless he returned to action in the Champions League against Dortmund, and after being arguably the outstanding performer across the two legs, the Brazilian swiftly banished any good will that this showboating incident had brought him by orchestrating the PSG celebrations to mock Erling Haaland - a 19-year-old kid who hadn't really done anything didn't deserve this retribution.

The most expensive player in the history of the sport has the ability to both astound and exacerbate in equal measure, but however annoying he can get, it does still seem a bit harsh to book him for just having fun.