Konate’s hilarious celebration summed up Liverpool’s strangest moment at Forest | OneFootball

Ibou Konate’s cartwheel might not appear on any official score sheet, but it ended up being one of the most replayed moments from Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.

The 26-year-old looked convinced we had finally found the breakthrough when Alexis Mac Allister’s late effort dropped in, and Konate responded like a man who had just watched a cup final winner rather than a scruffy ricochet in a tense league game.

Premier League footage shared online captured Konate launching into a cartwheel in celebration, only for the mood to flip seconds later when VAR ruled the goal out for handball.

It was a funny snapshot, but it also underlined the emotional whiplash of an afternoon where we struggled for rhythm, then somehow still left the City Ground with three points.

Liverpool did get the winner in the end, with Mac Allister scoring again deep into stoppage time after Virgil van Dijk’s header was saved, and this time there was no cartwheel required because the relief was louder than any choreography.

Mac Allister admitted afterwards that the disallowed effort felt harsh, even if he accepted the letter of the law.

“It hit my back and my elbow. I understand the rule but if you understand football, that goal should have stood.”

John Aldridge went further than that in his own reaction, branding the decision “corrupt” in a series of posts that showed how quickly one VAR call can dominate the conversation even after a win.

Konate’s celebration captured the chaos of Forest away

Konate’s cartwheel worked as a perfect visual summary of the match, because it was joy that lasted about as long as one replay angle.

It also helped that the No.5 was immense defensively, because Forest had periods where we were pinned back, absorbing set pieces and defending our box far more than we would have wanted in a game we needed to win.

Sofascore’s numbers show just how busy Konate was across the full 90 minutes, with the France international consistently stepping in to stop attacks before they became clear chances.

What Konate’s stats tell us about Liverpool’s win

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Konate did not just defend his penalty area, because he also carried the ball and helped us progress play when passing lanes were tight and the tempo was messy.

That blend mattered on a day when control was hard to find, Florian Wirtz was lost in the warm-up, and we had to reshuffle roles mid-game to steady ourselves.

Ibrahima Konate vs Nottingham Forest

Liverpool will take the points and move on, but Konate’s cartwheel will probably outlive the match highlights, because it captured the exact moment we thought the hard work was done before the afternoon demanded one last twist.

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