Ekitike replaced Alexander Isak at half-time after the Sweden international opened his account for the club in the 43rd minute
Arne Slot; (right) Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike takes off his shirt after scoring against Southampton on Tuesday. Pic/Getty Images
Liverpool manager Arne Slot was left fuming at the antics of striker Hugo Ekitike despite securing a 2-1 win over Southampton to begin their EFL Cup campaign on Tuesday.
Ekitike replaced Alexander Isak at half-time after the Sweden international opened his account for the club in the 43rd minute. The French forward’s first involvement was to be booked for punching the ball away in frustration. Shea Charles equalised for Southampton in the 76th minute, but Ekitike scored the winner in the 85th minute and celebrated by removing his shirt, for which he received a second yellow card and was subsequently sent off, leaving the Reds to see out the rest of the game with 10 men, a predicament that didn’t please Slot, who labelled Ekitike’s behavior as ‘needless and stupid.’
“I told him that if you score in the Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner I can maybe understand [the celebration]. But, it was needless and stupid. You have to control your emotions,” said a displeased Slot.
Ekitike took to Instagram later to issue an apology. “I was so excited tonight to help the team achieve another victory here in our home for my first Carabao Cup match. The emotion got the better of me tonight. My apologies to all the Red family,” said Ekitike.
Meanwhile, Chelsea rallied from a goal down to beat Lincoln 2-1, in their first meeting since 1911. Lincoln took the lead thanks to a Blues blunder in the 42nd minute, capitalising on a poor pass inside the Blues penalty area. But Tyrique George scored three minutes into the second-half to level proceedings before Facundo Buonanotte scored the winner for Chelsea (50th min).
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