Joshua Zirkzee statement issued as decision made on Man Utd star's controversial celebration
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Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee has been reprimanded by the FA - but avoided a ban. The Dutch striker celebrated somewhat controversially after Amad’s late heroics secured the Red Devils a 3-1 comeback win against Southampton on Thursday night. Zirkzee made an important contribution off the bench - five days on from notching the winning penalty in the FA Cup shootout success over Arsenal.
But after Amad’s third goal secured all three points, the ex-Bologna star turned to the Stretford End and grabbed his crotch in a suggestive fashion. A similar gesture saw Jude Bellingham handed a one-game ban and £25k fine after England beat Slovakia at Euro 2024, leading to fears that Zirkzee could face a similar punishment.
However, the FA have opted against taking action. A statement read: “As guidance, we have issued Joshua Zirkzee with a reminder of his responsibilities, and he will face no further action.”. United’s win over the Premier League's bottom club has them 13th in the table ahead of their meeting with Brighton on Sunday, with Ruben Amorim admitting there will be more ups and downs before the season is over.
“I think it’s going to be hard until the end of the season,” Amorim said. “It’s going to be a little bit that rollercoaster. Then it depends on the time you have to train. We are still in the cup and we have UEFA games for the Europa League.
“Then it’s important also to focus on next Thursday (when Rangers visit Old Trafford) to win and to try to be in that top eight. In that way you can take two games from the schedule and have a full week so we are trying to do everything at the same time.
