A FORMER Motherwell hero pulled off his best Diego Maradona impression tonight – moments after Celtic loan star Mikey Johnston had given his best shot at doing similar.
West Brom’s 2-2 draw with QPR evoked memories of England vs Argentina at the 1986 World Cup, when the footie legend wrote all the headlines with a wonderful solo goal that followed him controversially punching the ball into the net.
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The second of those goals has gone down as the best goal in World Cup history, and his handball perhaps the most infamous.
At either ends of the field in London tonight, fans witnessed something of a second coming from Maradona.
In the first half of the Championship clash, Johnston, on loan at Albion from Celtic, scored his third goal from the last four games with a wonderstrike from outside the box.
The tricky winger after cutting inside from the left flank onto his right foot, dribbling past two defenders before rifling a shot into the top corner.
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It’s the 24-year-old’s fourth goal since arriving in the West Midlands and fans on social media have lauded it as his best yet.
So good, in fact, that it could be a goal of the season contender.
One fan wrote: “What a player Mikey Johnston is by the way. Bro is having a goal of the season competition with himself.”
Another said: “Safe to say Mikey Johnston is winning goal of the season.”
Celtic fans also chimed in as they watched on as Johnston flourishes away from Glasgow.
“Why couldn’t he do this for Celtic?” asked one.
A second commented: “The talent was always there. Good to see the lad doing well.”
A third said “Right, up the road!” and a fourth added: “Bring him home.”
Speaking to his previous goals, this fan joked: “This is just getting silly now. Worldies every week it seems. Good on him.”
Other Celtic fans were even more scathing of how Johnston was treated, by both the club and other supporters.
One said: “Imagine Celtic putting him out on loan and bringing in Kuhn for 3 million. You couldn’t make it up. Even as an impact player off the bench in these final 9 games there is no comparison.”
“Amazing what negative fan pressure can do to a guys confidence,” said another.
And another fan raged: “If I see him on my timeline ripping it up for West Brom one more f****** time!”
But in spite of all that, all the talk at the end of the game was about the drama involving former Motherwell star Cedric Kipre.
The defender cleared the ball off the line in the second half with his fist in a manner similar to the way Maradona leapt to punch the ball past Peter Shilton 38 years ago.
Fans were quick to make the comparison on social media.
“Kipre channelling his inner Maradona there,” said one punter.
“Kipre just did a Maradona off the line so QPR couldn’t equalise!” exclaimed another.
“Save of the season!” joked a third.
VAR is not in operation in the Championship and needless to say, the Loftus Road side were fuming with the decision.
Defender Steve Cook said: “Sam Field should have had a hat-trick, a blatant handball from Kipre.
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“It can’t be missed! It’s a terrible decision by the referee but we tried to give everything tonight.
“We were unfortunate and I think only one team deserved the three points.”
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R’s boss Marti Cifuentes added: “I have been told that West Brom played with two keepers.
“Football is a game with mistakes and unfortunately the refs can make mistakes. They have a difficult job, the second most difficult job after being a manager.”
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