Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold could reportedly land himself in hot water with the FA over his celebration in the Reds' 1-1 Premier League draw with Manchester City.
The Liverpool vice-captain was given a torrid time by Jeremy Doku in the blockbuster lunchtime battle, where Erling Haaland's record-breaking 50th Premier League goal sent the champions ahead in the first half.
Jurgen Klopp's side struggled to ask meaningful questions of the City backline and had their own rearguard breached for a second time when Ruben Dias tapped home at the back post from a corner, but the goal was controversially chalked off for a foul on Alisson Becker by Manuel Akanji.
Liverpool made the most of that reprieve, as with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, Alexander-Arnold surged towards the City penalty box, was teed up by Mohamed Salah and expertly found the bottom corner on the edge of the area.
Rather than celebrate with the jubilant Liverpool end behind the goal, Alexander-Arnold ran to a section of Man City supporters and put his finger up to his lips with an expressionless face, enraging the home crowd in the process.
The 25-year-old was the subject of several obscene gestures and expletives as he told the Citizens faithful to quieten down, and Liverpool held out in the dying embers to return to Anfield with a point.
Alexander-Arnold addressed his celebration in a post-match interview and made light of the incident, saying: "It's always good to celebrate in front of away fans. Seeing all of the faces is really funny."
However, the smile may soon be wiped off of Alexander-Arnold's face, as The Mirror reports that under the laws oft the game, the Liverpool vice-captain is at risk of retrospective action.
While on-field referee Chris Kavanagh decided not to punish Alexander-Arnold for his celebration at the Etihad, Law 12 of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) says that a player "must be cautioned" for "gesturing or acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way".
As a result, the FA would be within their rights to retrospectively sanction Alexander-Arnold for provoking the Man City faithful, although the report adds that he would likely escape with just a warning about his future conduct.
By holding Man City to a point on Saturday, Liverpool ended the champions' astonishing 23-game winning home run across all competitions, although they missed the chance to leapfrog Pep Guardiola's side into first place.
Arsenal jumped above both teams into top spot courtesy of their 1-0 win over Brentford later that evening, demoting the Reds down to third place in the table, but Alexander-Arnold still believes that something is building at Anfield.
"There's been many times [when] we've played a lot better against Man City and lost the game. So, to come here and get the point is a good result for us, if I'm honest," the 25-year-old told Sky Sports News.
"It was something that we needed as a team and I think it just instils that belief that even when we don't play well against the champions, they just won the treble last year, a team at the top of the league, if you can't play well and you can still get a point against them then at least you're doing something right and we've dug in deep today and got that point."
Liverpool's next game sees the Reds host LASK Linz in the Europa League on Thursday night, where a win would assure Klopp's side of a top-two finish in Group E. body check tags ::
