Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg has told Gabriel it was “disrespectful” of him to mimic Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres’ celebration.
Gunners defender Gabriel copied Gyokeres’ famous mask celebration when scoring Arsenal’s third goal in their 5-1 win over Sporting on Tuesday night.
Gabriel powered home a header from a corner to put Arsenal 3-0 up before half-time and afterwards interlocked his hands before putting them over his face, just like Gyokeres does when he scores.
The Sweden international brushed it off afterwards, telling Viaplay: “He’s welcome to steal it if he can’t create his own celebration!”
But Arsenal legend Ljungberg, who was also the club’s interim manager before Mikel Arteta was hired in December 2019, did not approve of Gabriel’s actions.
“I’m not a fan of it,” he told Viaplay. “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.”
