Brighton’s James Milner dedicates equaliser vs Man City to Diogo Jota

Brighton’s James Milner dedicated his goal against Manchester City in Premier League to his former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota on Sunday.

The goal, his first in the tournament in six years, equalised the score in the second half for his side after Erling Haaland’s opener in the 34th minute.

The 39-year-old converted his penalty into a goal and went on to sit on the turf, replicating Diogo Jota’s trademark “video game” celebration.

Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash in July. James Milner was in attendance at his former teammate’s funeral in Portugal.

Earlier this year, he also changed his shirt number from 6 to 20 – Diogo Jota’s shirt number at Liverpool – at Brighton.

In an earlier interview, the Brighton star revealed that he changed his shirt number as a tribute to his former teammate.

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“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,” James Milner said.

He added, “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.”

The Premier League game saw Brighton’s Brajan Gruda snatch the winning goal a minute from time as the hosts beat Manchester City 2-1. .

The German midfielder beat the offside trap and rounded James Trafford in the City goal to score and condemn the side to back-to-back league defeats.