Danny Welbeck mimics Marcus Rashford as Liverpool destroyed by Brighton

14 January 2023 , 19:55

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Danny Welbeck celebrated his goal against Liverpool by pointing his finger to his head

Brighton star Danny Welbeck cheekily mimicked Marcus Rashford's signature celebration after scoring his side's third goal in their demolition of Liverpool.

The Seagulls left the Reds shell-shocked at the AMEX Stadium by claiming a 3-0 win, with Welbeck coming off the bench to secure the three points. Solly March had already scored a double by the time the former Manchester United man came on.

Liverpool dropped down to ninth after the defeat and Welbeck made sure to rub their noses in the loss even more with his celebration. The striker came up through United's academy, spending six years in their senior team before spells at Arsenal, Watford and now Brighton.

He started Saturday's clash with Brighton on the bench, replacing Evan Ferguson with 24 minutes remaining. By that time, the hosts were in total control of the game, but Welbeck made it safe 15 minutes after coming on.

March flicked on a throw-in with a header before Welbeck flicked the ball over Joe Gomez and fired in a volley past Alisson. The striker ran over to the home crowd to celebrate before standing to attention and pointing a finger to his head.

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That celebration is reminiscent of Rashford's own one, which he also performed earlier on Saturday after scoring against Manchester City. Welbeck had already left Old Trafford by the time Rashford broke into the senior team.

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Welbeck's celebration was similar to that of Marcus Rashford's

Though it appears he drew inspiration from the Red Devils star as he enjoyed his side's stunning win. March put the Seagulls two goals up with two strikes early into the second-half.

First, he converted Kaoru Mitoma's low cross, before firing in a superb left-footed strike after Ferguson's through-ball. Welbeck then came on to make the win safe and leave boss Roberto De Zerbi delighted.

"We are really happy for the result, for the quality of play. We expected another tactical disposition of the opponent but we understood immediately the different situation and responded fantastically," the Italian told Premier League Productions.

"I have a fantastic team of fantastic players and for me it is an honour to work with them. I don't want to speak about the table. We have a target at the end of the season. Now we are to play another 20-21 games and we have to stay focused only on the other games.

"In Anfield it was my first game in PL, a different country, language, players. Now I'm getting to work here and for this one it's different. We have a dream and we want to work harder to achieve our target. For sure we will work hard to arrive."

The goal against Liverpool was Welbeck's first of the campaign in the Premier League, though he has notched three assists. Brighton now sit in seventh, which also brings with it qualification for the Europa Conference League.

They are only five points behind Newcastle United in the final Champions League spot. Liverpool meanwhile are enduring a wretched season and have dropped to ninth, seven points adrift of the Magpies.

Jacob Leeks