CISSE TO OFFER APOLOGY TO TOON

Monday 20th March 2006
ANFIELD ONLINE LFC NEWS

CISSE TO OFFER APOLOGY TO TOON

If you ask us he hasn't got much to apologise about - in fact I don't know why the Geordie faithful went crazy towards him after he scored the goal...this was before he stuck his tongue at them..

But anyway, Djibril Cisse is willing to say sorry after taunting Newcastle United supporters following his goal in Liverpool's 3-1 win on Sunday.

The French striker was spoken to by the referee for the hand gestures he made at the crowd in the Premier League game at St James' Park.

"I don't expect the FA to take any action against him," Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez told reporters on Monday.

"We talked after I saw the incident on television and he said he is happy to meet people from Newcastle and say sorry about what he did.

"I think he was under pressure because he had not scored a goal for a long time.

"So when he scored, the reaction he made was almost normal. It was a bad reaction but one made when he was under pressure."

Cisse himself went on:

"I didn't intend to be rude. I was just really happy to score a goal after such a long time because scoring goals is what I love doing. I want to make it clear I respect the Newcastle supporters and if they thought I was being disrespectful to them, then I obviously apologise for that.

"Like all the strikers at the club, I have been desperate to find the net again and when the penalty went in, I was absolutely delighted. But, if my celebrations appeared disrespectful, that certainly wasn't my intention.

"It was a great team performance against a good side and the three points were more important than me scoring a goal. I think we have a really good chance of finishing second now but we have to keep fighting until the end. For now though, the only thing that matters is our FA Cup quarter-final match against Birmingham. We know it is going to be a hard game but we have confidence and I think we can win there."

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