Video) Richarlison’s shameless celebration straight after scoring could now prove costly for Liverpool
Whenever Richarlison comes up against Liverpool, it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll find a way to make himself the centre of attention.
The Tottenham forward memorably produced his pigeon celebration after a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser at Anfield in April 2023, only for Diogo Jota to instantly snatch a winner at the other end – a moment later mocked by Jamie Carragher on social media.
History threatened to repeat itself this evening when the former Everton attacker was introduced from the bench with Spurs 2-0 down to Arne Slot’s side and just 10 minutes left on the clock. As expected, Richarlison didn’t stay quiet for long.
Just three minutes after coming on, he capitalised on Liverpool’s failure to properly deal with a corner, pouncing on a loose ball inside the box to spark what turned into a tense finale in north London.
Richarlison’s behaviour leads to Szoboszlai ban
However, it was what followed the goal that caused the real controversy. In celebrating, the 28-year-old shoved Hugo Ekitike in the back of the neck while the striker was face-down on the turf, before running straight up to Dominik Szoboszlai and shouting in his face.
Astonishingly, it was Szoboszlai who was cautioned by referee John Brooks – his fifth yellow card of the league campaign. The booking rules him out of next Saturday’s clash with Wolves, a major blow given Liverpool’s growing injury and availability problems.
Mohamed Salah is away at AFCON, while Cody Gakpo, Wataru Endo and Joe Gomez are already sidelined. Conor Bradley appeared to pick up a knock before half-time, and Alexander Isak had to be withdrawn after being fouled by Micky van de Ven when scoring Liverpool’s opener.
Needless and disgraceful from Richarlison
Richarlison’s strained relationship with Liverpool is well documented, from his strange comments about Virgil van Dijk to his immature online behaviour after the 2022 Champions League final defeat.
Even so, his conduct after scoring tonight was indefensible. There was no need to antagonise Ekitike or Szoboszlai when Spurs were desperately chasing the game and Liverpool were momentarily rocked.
The Brazilian later received a booking himself for continuing to argue with Brooks at full-time, but the damage was already done. His actions directly contributed to Liverpool’s number eight being suspended for what was effectively nothing.
Ultimately, though, Liverpool had the final word. A 2-1 victory ensured the Reds climbed into the Premier League’s top five – at least temporarily – and left Richarlison to reflect on another night where his antics outweighed his impact.
