Ex-Man Utd man admits shock at his reaction to Liverpool star’s moment

Jamie Vardy, Roberto Firmino

Former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra has said that he felt “surprised” at finding himself celebrating Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino’s latest goal.

Evra was a pundit for Sky Sports as the Reds beat Leicester 3-0 at Anfield in a statement victory on Sunday.

Firmino, meanwhile, has faced questions about his role in the team after Diogo Jota’s stunning arrival. But the Brazilian, who also has a lack of goals, netted the third against the Foxes to answer his critics.

Indeed, his header came after goal line technology earlier ruled that his previous effort had been cleared off the line with a centimetre to spare.

As such, Evra could not help himself celebrating the forward’s goal, something which he later joked about.

“It’s not an excuse when you play for a big club like Liverpool, you need to perform,” the 39-year-old said (via talkSPORT).

“You need to have two teams, three teams if you want to keep winning the league. Jurgen Klopp will be really pleased with his players. To be honest, we were happy.

“Even as a United fan, to be fair, when I saw Firmino score I was quite happy because he’s struggling a lot. He’s a great performer. That’s what I want to see.”

Klopp Firmino TEAMtalk

Sky Sports presenter Dave Jones then probed Evra on his reaction. He said: “I never thought I’d see it from you, Patrice, celebrating a Liverpool goal.”

Evra said: “I was really surprised – I must be too tired. It’s been a long day. That’s why I was celebrating because I thought it was United playing!”

Liverpool went joint-top of the Premier League table with the victory. What’s more, Jurgen Klopp’s men set a new club record, making it 64 league games unbeaten at Anfield.

Injury overshadows Liverpool mood

 

 

But, as has been the case so often for Liverpool this season, further injury woe overshadowed the game.

Midfielder Naby Keita went off with a hamstring problem after 51 minutes. After the match, Klopp also explained Xherdan Shaqiri has a muscle problem which went under the radar.

But parts of Klopp’s furious interview with Sky Sports also went unrecognised. The broadcaster chose not to air the German coach’s anger at this season’s fixture scheduling.

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