Darwin Nunez and Ibrahima Konate’s unusual celebration of Liverpool’s opening goal in their FA Cup third round victory against Arsenal made Gary Lineker laugh. The Reds have to wait until the very end to pull off a smash-and-grab at the Emirates Stadium. Jakub Kiwior’s own goal and Luis Diaz’s second goal sealed the victory for the visitors.
Arsenal dominated play in the first half, but Liverpool punished them after the interval as they wasted many excellent opportunities. As the game progressed, Jurgen Klopp’s team gained momentum and were rewarded with ten minutes to go when Kiwior diverted a Liverpool corner into his own goal.
A few Liverpool players ran to the away end to celebrate in front of their supporters, and one or two of them even entered the pitch to join in. Nunez leaped on top of the huddle, got carried away, and repeatedly smacked the top of the man’s head, choosing to punish one unfortunate fan with a few harsh slaps.
The next player to charge in was Konate, the Frenchman removing the fan’s hat and tossing it back into the away end. Lineker responded to the unusual happenings on social media by posting a video of the incident along with three crying laughing emoticons.
Before the final siren, Diaz gave Liverpool even more reason to celebrate as he scored in stoppage time to seal the victory and eliminate Arsenal from the FA Cup. In his post-match interview with BBC Sport, Konate was all smiles, saying, “Yes, I am really happy, but I think the man of the match was all of the team.”
“I’m overjoyed. We advance to the following round. Yes, without a doubt [I’m delighted]. Although playing a lot of games is difficult, we adore it. We won two cups when we did it two years ago. This season, I aspire to win more and be different. Let’s cross our fingers.”