Djibril Cisse has offered his apologies to the
Newcastle United supporters for any offence he may have caused during
Liverpool's 3-1 win at St James' Park on Sunday.
Having lifted his shirt to reveal a message to his wife Jude and newborn baby son Cassius after scoring from the spot during the second half, the French striker appeared to some home fans to be over-egging his celebrations in front of them.
Cisse, however, has explained that having waited months to find the net, he struggled to maintain his emotions.
"I didn't intend to be rude," Cisse told
Liverpoolfc.tv. "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."
