Arne Slot doubles down on Hugo Ekitike after Liverpool star's 'stupid' red card

Arne Slot felt that Federico Chiesa, rather Hugo Ekitike, should have taken the plaudits following the Frenchman's decisive goal in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Southampton in the Carabao Cup after Ekitike was sent off for his celebration.

The Liverpool striker, 23, was shown a second yellow card for removing his shirt during the celebrations for his goal in the 85th minute, which turned out to be the winner. Having been booked earlier in the game, Ekitike is now suspended for the Reds' Premier League fixture with Crystal Palace on Saturday, leaving Slot with a selection headache given he has already vowed to handle Alexander Isak's minutes carefully.

Slot blasted Ekitike for his "stupid" actions post-match as the dust settled. But the Dutchman also felt that the plaudits deserved to be passed to Chiesa after the attacker teed up Ekitike for his second assist of the night.

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"The first one (yellow card) was already needless and to a certain extent stupid because you have to control your emotions, and I know how hard it is if you play in the Premier League and you are a number nine then the defender can almost do everything he wants, and when you push him a little bit you get a free-kick against you," the Liverpool head coach said of Ekitike post-match.

"But it is always the best to control your emotions, and if you can't then do it in a way that doesn't lead to a yellow card. So I think I said when I got my red card against Everton that's always stupid because you can show your emotions but if it leads to a yellow or red then it's, to a certain extent, stupid.

"Then I told him that if you score in a Champions League final in the 87th minute after beating three players and hitting it in the top corner I can maybe understand you say 'it's all about me', but I'm old fashioned, I'm 47, I''m old, and I haven't played at this level but I did score a few goals, and if I scored a goal like this I would have turned around and walked up to Federico Chiesa and say 'this goal is all about you, this is not about me.'

"So yeah, needless, not smart, you call it stupid and I call it stupid."

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