Manchester United forward Joshua Zirkzee could be banned for making a gesture during the club’s 3-1 Premier League victory against Southampton at Old Trafford on Thursday evening.
United fell behind thanks to a Manuel Ugarte own goal on the stroke of half-time. And it looked like Ruben Amorim’s side were heading for an embarrassing defeat against bottom-of-the-league Southampton.
But like he has done so often this season, Amad, 22, single-handedly secured United all three points with a 12-minute hat-trick, which sent his side up to 12th in the Premier League table.
Of course, fans and players inside the stadium could not contain their emotions during the celebrations – and rightly so. However, Zirkzee, 23, may have taken it a step too far and now could land himself a ban.
The forward was a second-half substitute during the game, he replaced Rasmus Hojlund on 53 minutes.
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The Dutchman appeared to grab his crotch while celebrating, an action which has previously landed players in hot water.
At Euro 2024, England’s Jude Bellingham was fined £25,000 and given a one-match ban after employing a similar celebration during the Three Lions’ 2-1 round of 16 win against Slovakia.
And Cristiano Ronaldo received a similar punishment for doing the same thing while playing for Al Nassr in 2024.
It is still unclear if the FA will hand Zirkzee a ban, but he will be hoping that he can evade any potential punishment ahead of Sunday's trip to Brighton.
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According to IFAB, "players can celebrate when a goal is scored, but the celebration must not be excessive; choreographed celebrations are not encouraged and must not cause excessive time-wasting". And players must be cautioned if the celebration is "provocative, derisory or inflammatory [in any] way".
After the game, Amorim, 39, voiced his delight with his side's second-half performance but admitted it was a "difficult night" for the defence.
"You always believe," he said.
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"I have to believe. But with the chance that, for example, that Antony misses, then you have that feeling that, let's go again, a difficult night with our defence."
"All the players, you have the biggest expectations for all," Amorim added. "I'm trying to be really demanding with them. And on the other side of that problem, I also understand when they try it, but they cannot do it. I understand when the pressure of playing at home sometimes is harder than playing away.
"I understand that sometimes the demands of controlling the game, all the game, against this opponent, sometimes it's harder than to face a big team with zero expectation from everybody. So, I understand these kind of details and I will try to help them be better players and [a] better team."
Topics: Manchester United, Joshua Zirkzee, Premier League, Amad Diallo, Ruben Amorim, Jude Bellingham, Cristiano Ronaldo
Luke Davies