Former Arsenal star, Freddie Ljungberg has slammed Gabriel Magalhaes over his ‘disrespectful’ goal celebration after scoring in the Gunners’ 5-1 win against Sporting Lisbon.
Mikel Arteta’s team put on an outstanding display in Europe as the Gunners easily defeated Sporting, who were playing their first Champions League game since Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United.
With Gyokeres being watched by several Premier League teams, the Sweden international threat was neutralized by Gabriel and William Saliba, who were playing at their best.
Additionally, Gabriel made Gyokeres’ situation worse by imitating the Swede’s celebration by locking his fingers in front of his face as the Arsenal defender celebrated his goal.
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According to Football 365, Ljungberg was not thrilled by Gabriel’s act and considered it “disrespectful” that he had imitated Gyokeres’ celebration.
The Arsenal legend said during his analysis for Viaplay: “I’m not a fan of it. Of course, he must have had a lot of talk about playing against Gyokeres and whether he would be able to do it. Then his point in showing that he can handle it is quite simple.
“But I think it’s a bit disrespectful. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I think someone else has that target gesture, leave it alone. I don’t like to see it.”
Fellow pundit in the Viaplay studio, Sweden head coach Lars Lagerback, added: “You can always discuss ethics and morality but I don’t think it’s particularly serious. But you can only take a little.
“There is probably some irony behind it, one hopes, and not just rudeness.”
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