Hugo Ekitike showed true colours with promise to rival boss despite Liverpool red card

Hugo Ekitike stuck to his word by scoring against his old Reims coach, Will Still, in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night before he was sent off for removing his shirt.

Ekitike, 23, worked with the Southampton boss earlier in his career and shared a moment with Still before kick-off. The Frenchman was Liverpool's hero, scoring an 85th minute goal to sink Still and the Saints. However, his celebration for said goal earned him a second yellow card and a one match ban, which will be served when the Reds play Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

Speaking after the match, Still revealed that Ekitike had joked he was planning to come on, score, give him a shirt and "bugger off" - and that he'd done exactly that. “Hugo cracks me up, he’s a funny lad. We caught up before the game, and he said he’d come on and score, give me a shirt and bugger off, which is exactly what he’s done,” Still told reporters.

READ MORE: Arne Slot had no choice with Hugo Ekitike after downright stupid Liverpool red card

READ MORE: How many games will Hugo Ekitike miss? Suspension rules explained after Liverpool red card

“Fair play to him. We sold him to PSG for £50m, so we knew he’d got a bit about him and he’d scored a lot of goals for us as well. He’s a constant threat, and he’s incredibly annoying to play against.”

Ekitike issued an apology to fans on social media after his sending off, which leaves Arne Slot with a selection dilemma ahead of the weekend given he has already confirmed the Reds will be handling Alexander Isak's minutes carefully due to his dearth of action over pre-season.

But that didn't save him from a dressing down from his manager, who said: “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.

“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.”

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.