Premier League explain why Amad was booked for celebrating Manchester United goal vs Liverpool

Amad was shown a yellow card for 'excessively celebrating' Manchester United's first goal against Liverpool.

Lisandro Martinez opened the scoring in the second half against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon and the defender celebrated in front of the travelling away supporters at Anfield.

While most of Martinez's teammates quickly joined him to celebrate, Amad kicked the ball into the stand before joining in with the celebrations and was subsequently booked.

Referee Michael Oliver spotted Amad kicking the ball and showed him a yellow card before the restart for what the Premier League described as an "excessive celebration." Oliver put his arm around Amad while he explained the card and Amad laughed as he was informed.

The yellow card was Amad's third in 18 league appearances but he is not two cards away from a one-match suspension due to the midway point of the campaign having been reached.

Any Premier League player who accumulates five yellow cards inside the first 19 league games of the season will be suspended for one match but the record resets for the final 19 matches.

For example, Manuel Ugarte picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Wolves on Boxing Day and was consequently unavailable for the visit of Newcastle to Old Trafford.

Oliver's refereeing of United in some matches has been controversial, although there could be no complaints when he pointed to the spot after the ball struck Matthijs de Ligt's arm in the box.

Mohamed Salah converted the penalty to fire Liverpool into a 2-1 lead and the home side were expected to claim a victory from that stage but Amad produced an equaliser.

Amad has contributed six goals and seven assists this term and has become a key player.