Huko Ekitike has shared his regret for his actions after receiving a second yellow card during Liverpool’s Carabao Cup triumph over Southampton. The French forward netted the decisive goal against the Championship team, securing a 2-1 victory at Anfield. However, he complicated matters by removing his shirt in celebration, proudly holding his top aloft for the Liverpool supporters to see.
Having already received a booking for dissent, he was shown a red card for taking his top off. Ekitike will now be suspended for Liverpool’s away trip to Crystal Palace in the Premier League this Saturday. Despite being a man down, the Reds managed to hold their ground and secure the win over the Saints. Following the match, Ekitike quickly acknowledged his error and offered an apology.
In a post on his Instagram story, he stated: “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. Thanks to the fans who always support us and to my team-mates for securing the victory. #Reds.” Arne Slot post-match said: “It was needless and it was stupid. It was. The first one was already needless and to a certain extend stupid.
“You have to control your emotions. I know how hard it is if you play as a number nine, the defender can almost do everything he wants and when you shirt pull or push him a little bit, a free-kick goes against you. But it’s best to control your emotions. If you cannot, do it in a way that does not lead to a yellow card.
“You can show your emotions but if it leads to a yellow or red card, it’s stupid. If I scored a goal like this, I would have turned around and said to Federico Chiesa: ‘This goal is all about you, this is not about me.’ So yeah, needless, not smart, stupid.”
Andy Robertson, who captained the Reds against the Saints, advised the young Frenchman to learn from his mistake. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Scot said: “I’d be very surprised if he does it again. I think scoring a goal is always emotional and you always get that emotion.
“But he’s obviously just forgotten he’s been booked. His first one is stupidity, kicking the ball away, we know the rules around that. Two silly bookings to pick up and now we miss him for Saturday.
“It’s silly from his part but he’s only young and he will learn from it. Happy that he scored but the last ten minutes were made a bit more difficult being down to ten men. He will learn from it and I am sure he won’t do it again.”
It proved a nightmare moment for Ekitike, who has otherwise made a superb start to his Anfield career. His strike against the Saints marked his fifth goal in eight appearances and proved vital for the Reds.
The reality he will be sidelined when Liverpool head to Selhurst Park will frustrate Slot. The Reds manager is now likely to start £125million signing Alexander Isak, who netted his maiden goal for the club against Southampton, from the start despite trying to carefully manage the Swede’s fitness.
