Sky Sports commentator accused of 'disrespecting' Diogo Jota during Brighton vs Man City

Sky Sports commentatorAlan Smithwas accused of 'disrespecting' Diogo Jotaafter naming his celebration after Erling Haaland. Former Liverpool star James Milnerused the Portuguese forward's celebration after scoring a penalty vs former side Manchester City.

He performed the celebration in honour of his former teammate who had died this summer in a tragic car crash. But Smith got mixed up, claiming the celebation was Haaland's.

He later corrected himself live on air. But fans were critical of Smith's slip. One fan said: "Alan Smith 'the Haaland celebration'. How about the Jota celebration and Milner now wears 20 to remember his mate," while another said: "Sorry Alan Smith that's Jota's celebration."

A further fan responded: "Alan Smith: 'there we go the Haaland celebration' I'd say he was doing the Jota celebration mate for his old teammate who tragically lost his life. How is this clown still employed?!"

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"Alan Smith just said Milner did the 'Haaland celebration' when it was Jota. He's gonna get ripped apart here," another viewer said, with another adding: "Did Alan Smith just call James Milner paying tribute to Diogo Jota with his celebration as Erling Haaland’s? The absolute disrespect…"

Milner's celebration is not the first time that he has paid tribute to Jota after his heart-breaking death. He chose to claim Brighton's number 20 shirt for the season - the same number that Jota donned during his time with the Reds.

Announcing that decision, he said: "Once I heard Carlos [Baleba] was looking to change his number and 20 was available, I wanted to do it as a mark of respect and to obviously pay tribute to Diogo Jota.

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"He was an amazing player, who I was fortunate to play with, and he was a great friend as well. It will be a great honour to wear his number in the Premier League this year."

Milner's penalty had levelled matters at the Amex after Erling Haaland had given City the lead in the first-half. The Seagulls were handed a spot kick after a VAR review following Matheus Nunes' handball.

And Brighton turned the game on its head late on, Brajan Gruda netting in the final minute of regulation time.

It leaves City with just one win from three games heading into the first international break of the season. Meanwhile, Brighton sit one point and two places better off.

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