Liverpool's 'racist' supporter arrested by police over 'monkey' gesture

Merseyside Police last night arrested a 59-year old man from north Wales after Liverpool's 2-1 win over Manchester United, for an alleged monkey gesture which is considered to be racist.

Liverpool's win over traditional rivals Man U was blemished when an image of a Liverpool fan making the 'monkey gesture' during the match was circulated on the Internet, causing widespread ire.

"The man has been taken to a police station, and will be questioned by officers. Merseyside Police would like to thank North Wales police and Liverpool Football Club for their assistance with this matter," said a police statement released last night.

The police had earlier claimed that specialist 'hate crime' detectives were examining this particular incident.

This was also the first game between United and Liverpool since an independent FA inquiry had banned Liverpool striker Luis Suarez for racially abusing Patrice Evra during their Premier League encounter in October last year.

The Anfield crowd jeered the Manchester United captain Patrice Evra every time he touched the ball during the match, The Telegraph reports.

Meanwhile, Liverpool has said they will punish anyone found guilty of indulging in any kind of racist misdemeanor and they were working in tandem with the police to find out the guilty.

"Following today's game we were made aware of an image being circulated on social media relating to an incident at this afternoon's FA Cup tie. We are now working closely with Merseyside Police to establish the facts of what occurred and identify the individual involved," said an official Liverpool statement.

Merseyside police reported that during the game itself they had arrested two people (one inside and another outside the ground) and ejected 17 people for low-level disorder misdemeanors.