Jordan Henderson dedicates Brentford goal to Diogo Jota with celebration against Leeds

Ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson did Diogo Jota’s famous Playstation celebration after scoring his first Brentford goal against Leeds United

Jordan Henderson shared a heartfelt tribute to former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota after scoring for Brentford against Leeds United on Sunday afternoon. Henderson, 33, who played alongside Jota at the Reds for three years, netted his first goal for the Bees in the 1-1 draw against the Whites.

The England international joined Keith Andrews’ side from Ajax in the summer, and despite making an impressive start to his Brentford career, it took him until his 16th appearance to find his first goal.

Indeed, Henderson broke the deadlock for Brentford against Leeds with an instinctive finish. He got on the end of a low cross from the left before drilling the ball beyond the goalkeeper via a deflection.

And in his celebration, Henderson dedicated his goal to the late Jota, who died in July alongside his brother Andre Silva. After receiving the applause from his Brentford teammates, Henderson dropped to the floor and sat cross-legged whilst pretending to use a video game controller with his hands.

Jota had been an avid gamer when not playing, most notably on EA Sports’ FIFA series of video games. He treated gaming like a second career, reaching world no.1 in FIFA21 Ultimate Team.

But Jota passed away in a tragic car accident on July 3 of this year. Jota, along with his brother Andre Silva, was en route to the port city of Santander to catch a ferry back to the UK when their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames near Zamora, Spain, following a tyre blowout.

As for Henderson, his Brentford side couldn’t hold on for a precious three points as Leeds fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with ex-Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalising late on.

It’s a result that moves the Bees up to 14th on six wins and two draws from their opening 16 matches. They are next in action when they travel to manchester-city-fc>Manchester City in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.

Paying tribute to Jota in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Henderson said: “It was his [Jota’s] birthday recently, we’ll never forget him. We always remember him forever really. I can only imagine what the lads at Liverpool are going through.

“He was a good friend. I don’t score many goals so I thought when I did I would dedicate it to him.”

Henderson and Jota shared many memorable moments together during their time at Liverpool, winning a number of major trophies under Jurgen Klopp, including the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

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