If football pundits are meant to maintain impartiality when on broadcasting duty, then nobody told Adebayo Akinfenwa, judging by his unbridled reaction to Diogo Jota’s stoppage time winner for Liverpool on Sunday.
The Reds beat Tottenham 4-3 in a dramatic encounter at Anfield, with Jurgen Klopp’s team accumulating a three-goal lead inside the opening 15 minutes, only to see it whittled away as Richarlison plundered a late equaliser.
However, there was still time for the Portugal forward to fire home the goal which took the Merseysiders’ winning streak to four matches and move them up to fifth in the Premier League table, leapfrogging their opponents in the process.
Akinfenwa was in the talkSPORT studio for the game and the lifelong Liverpool fan couldn’t hide his glee when Jota dispatched the ball to the net, leaping out of his chair and jumping repeatedly.
All the while, fellow pundit Darren Ambrose – a Spurs supporter – could only put on a brave face, his smile hiding what must’ve been a sickener for the ex-Newcastle player.
While listeners didn’t get to hear Akinfenwa’s screams of delight, as the audio at the time of his celebration was a reporter at Anfield relaying news of the winning goal, the mere footage of his reaction told the story.
The man known as the ‘Beast’ perfectly encapsulated how every Liverpool fan was feeling in that moment!
You can catch the clip of Akinfenwa’s glorious reaction below, via @talkSPORT on Twitter:
During the break, #LFC scored their winner against Tottenham 🔥
Adebayo Akinfenwa could not hide his excitement in the talkSPORT studio 🤣
Darren Ambrose smiled behind the pain 🙃 pic.twitter.com/9vScWFmchI
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) April 30, 2023