Robbie’s greatest hit

HERO Robbie Simpson placed his Anfield wonder-strike as his finest moment in football.

Athletic’s on-loan striker won’t, though, be repeating the extravagant goal celebration which followed.

After smacking home a 20-yard shot with his left foot to hand Athletic a shock, but well-deserved lead at Anfield in front of the Kop just short of the half-hour mark, the striker raced to the opposite end of the field to celebrate in front of his own joyous fans.

“I just completely lost it, to be honest,” admitted the 26-year-old, who was brought off in the second half due to cramp.

“I can assure everyone that I will never run that far to celebrate again — I was absolutely shattered!

“It was a sweet strike. As soon as I hit it, I saw the shape of the ball. Pepe Reina had no chance.

“It was an unbelievable feeling to score in front of the Kop and it is the best moment of my career.”

Simpson felt Athletic suffered through conceding the penalty right on half-time, before detailing his desire to taste more big-occasion atmosphere by reaching the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final.

“Their manager even said to us as we came off that it was never a 5-1 and that we should be proud of ourselves,” Simpson added.

“When you have someone of Kenny Dalglish’s stature saying that, it is brilliant.

“In the first half, we were a bit unfortunate to go in a goal down. A deflected goal saw them equalise and even then I was saying, let’s get in to half-time at 1-1.

“Then, the penalty was given which was very harsh. It changed the complexion of the game in the second half, because we had to come out.

“We did that and carved out good opportunities — I remember one which Tom Adeyemi blazed over with his left foot.

“The third was the real killer and there was no coming back after that.

“I am so proud of the team and the way that we played.

“I am also a bit gutted, to be honest. But I take away a special moment and it was a great occasion — I hope the fans are proud of us and hopefully now, we can give them another great day out at Wembley.”