Hugo Ekitike has issued an apology on Instagram after his red card against Southampton
Hugo Ekitike has apologised to Liverpool fans after his bizarre sending off in the 2-1 win over Southampton on Tuesday night.
The Frenchman came on for Alexander Isak at half-time and proceeded to score a late winner for the Reds, but having already been on a yellow card, he was booked for a second time and given his marching orders for removing his shirt in celebrating the goal.
Jeremie Frimpong looked horrified as he realised that his teammate was about to be sent off, and some pundits castigated the striker for his moment of ‘sheer stupidity’ as he triggered a suspension which now rules him out of the Premier League trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Ekitike apologies over red card
A contrite Ekitike took to Instagram roughly an hour after the final whistle to own up to his silly red card, explaining how his emotions ‘got the better of’ him after scoring.
The 23-year-old posted on his story: “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 teammates [who] secured this victory!”
Hugo Ekitike was shown a second yellow card for removing his shirt in celebrating his winning goal against Southampton
Hopefully Ekitike will learn from ‘stupid’ dismissal
Arne Slot didn’t hide his disgust with the manner of Ekitike’s dismissal last night, bluntly describing it as ‘stupid’ from the Frenchman (liverpoolfc.com), and there’ll surely be some strong words said in private to go along with the head coach’s public dismay.
We can understand the striker’s frustration over the harsh free kick which was given against him to trigger the moment of dissent leading to the first yellow card, although the reality is that both bookings were quite avoidable, especially the second one after he’d already been on thin ice.
The 23-year-old ought to have shown more awareness in that situation, and it feels galling to lose him for a fiendishly tough fixture over such a needless dismissal – it wasn’t as if he was shown red for a professional foul in taking one for the team.
It’s a lesson for Ekitike to learn the hard way, but hopefully he will learn from it and keep his emotions in check the next time he scores a late winning goal or is annoyed at a decision which goes against him.
Despite his moment of sillness last night, we mustn’t lose sight of what an excellent start he’s had to his Liverpool career, with five goals already in his first eight matches as he makes a wonderfully quick adaptation to English football