Manchester United held a one goal advantage over Everton for close to 80 minutes today; then things escalated quickly. Henrik Mkhitaryan scored in the 83′, Romelu Lukaku in the ’89 and Anthony Martial in extra time, and before you knew it, a tightly contested 1-0 competition became a 4-0 riot.
Lukaku scored against his former team, and did the “cupping my ear so that I can hear you better” maneuver in celebration. It was a “how do you like me now?” in response to the crowd booing.
He made another gesture to the fans after the Mkhitaryan goal; indicating “shhhhhhh.”
Romelu Lukaku vs Everton Fans:
? After his goal: "Can't hear you" ?
? After Mkhitaryan's goal: "Shhhhh" ?
Absolutely savage ? pic.twitter.com/Jx3009LeIS
— SPORF (@Sporf) September 17, 2017
The celebrations were not well received by everybody in the football community. Many found what Lukaku did to be lacking in sportsmanship or class.
Lukaku explained his gestures and the rationale behind them to Sky Sports: “It’s another goal really, but we’re really happy with the win and that we stay top of the league. That’s the only objective for me this season.
“[The celebration] was just a bit of banter. I missed the free kick. I missed then knocked in the rebound. It’s just football.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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