Liverpool captain Gerrard admits he would celebrate handball goal
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted that if he was to score a goal in the manner of Luis Suarez’s against Mansfield against Manchester United on Sunday, he would celebrate it in the same way as his Uruguayan teammate, the Daily Mirror has reported.
Suarez was criticised for appearing to control a loose ball with his hand before scoring against the non-league team when the sides met in the FA Cup earlier this month, with some quarters suggesting the forward should have owned up to what he had done and advised the referee to disallow the goal.
Gerrard however has been candid in admitting that if he finds himself in the same situation at Old Trafford this weekend, he will not be coming clean to the officials either. Indeed, the England skipper does not believe any professional - and least of all the United players - would admit their transgression.
He said: “I’m not going to lie to you - of course [I would] celebrate. I can’t sit here and claim I would run to the linesman or referee and say, 'I’ve hand-balled it' at Old Trafford. What would Wayne Rooney do?”
Gerrard pointed to a controversial incident at Old Trafford from 2005 when Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Pedro Mendes’ long-range shot caught out then United goalkeeper Roy Carroll, who spilled the effort with the ball falling over the line only to claw the ball away and carry on as if nothing happened, as evidence that players and managers are unlikely to be honest about an incident that goes to their advantage.
“What did Roy Carroll do years ago when the ball was four yards over the line? I never saw Alex Ferguson or Carroll run to the referee or linesman and say it was over the line, did you?”
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