Liverpool's free-flowing attack overwhelmed Crystal Palace on Saturday evening, as despite gifting the opposition two goals they comfortably won the match through set-pieces and two well taken goals.
But one of them should not have stood according to the letter of the law.
The referee and linesmen both missed it, but eagle-eyed twitter users pointed out that Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino removed his shirt before the ball crossed the line. It sounds ridiculous, but a player removing their shirt during play is against the rules and had it been spotted it would have left the Brazilian striker red-faced.
Firmino took his shirt off before his chip vs. Palace crossed the line. According to FA rules, it should have been a Palace free-kick. #LFC pic.twitter.com/M3o97z6flq
— Premier League Zone (@ThePLZone) October 31, 2016
Firmino's top was off before the ball even crossed the line pic.twitter.com/nuBj30WSJo
— Calum Paton (@calum_paton) October 29, 2016
Firmino's shirt was removed for a pre-arranged celebration with Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane:
Great win Hermanos ??? #LFC #YNWA pic.twitter.com/13pJpi1Rj1
— Roberto_Firmino (@Roberto_Firmino) October 29, 2016
Could you imagine the reaction if that perfectly good goal, which came about from a sublime Jordan Henderson pass, was chalked off because Firmino chipped the keeper and celebrated before the ball had crossed the line?
It would have been a farcical way to undo some great work. We would suggest that Firmino think twice about removing his shirt in the future... But he is actually famous for doing that.
Twitter user @MrBoywunder pointed out that Firmino has made a habit of going for his shirt before thinking better of it.
Firmino's trademark 'almost take off your shirt but remember you'll get booked' celebration pic.twitter.com/W30TlUPFqD
— MB (@MrBoywunder) March 11, 2016
But this time he couldn't resist the temptation, and technically should have been punished for it.
Lucky to get away with it, although it would have been a bit of a joke if the ref had spotted it and pulled him up on it. A weird situation that we've never seen before.
