Arne Slot tears into Hugo Ekitike for 'needless & stupid' red card vs Southampton & gives all credit for Liverpool striker's winning goal to Federico Chiesa

Ekitike, who replaced Alexander Isak right after the break, picked up his first yellow card seven minutes into the second half. He did redeem himself by scoring a last-gasp winner from Chiesa's assist, but seconds later, he "stupidly" removed his shirt to celebrate his winning goal, resulting in a second yellow card and a sending-off. 

Liverpool boss Slot pulled no punches when addressing the incident in front of the media, saying: "It was needless and stupid. The first one was already needless and to a certain extent stupid because you have to control your emotions. I know how hard it is when you are a No. 9 when the defender can to a certain extent do anything he likes. It's always the best to control your emotions. If you can't, do it in a way that doesn't lead to a yellow card.

"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 he is like: 'This is all about me, what did I do.' But I am old-fashioned, I'm 47 and old. I never played at this level but did score a few goals and if I scored a goal like this, I'd have turned around and walked up to Federico Chiesa and said: 'This goal is all about you, this is not about me.' Needless, not smart, you call it stupid, I called it stupid right away as well."

Moments after Slot slammed Ekitike, the Frenchman took to social media to apologise to the Liverpool fans as he wrote: "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 as and to my teammates for securing this victory! #Reds."

Isak scored his first goal for Liverpool since completing a British record transfer from Newcastle on deadline day when he produced a calm close-range finish in the 43rd minute of the game. The Sweden international started ahead of Ekitike in the match and may retain his place for Liverpool's trip to Palace on Saturday with his French team-mate now suspended.