Arne Slot blasts 'STUPID' Hugo Ekitike as Liverpool boss left with major issue

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Arne Slot was critical of Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike after his late red card for removing his shirt against Southampton.

French forward Ekitike had replaced Alexander Isak at half-time, and after tapping home the winner with five minutes remaining he took off his shirt as he ran towards the corner flag.

Referee Thomas Bramall immediately showed Ekitike his second yellow, and the forward will now miss Liverpool's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday.



"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 boss said.

READ MORE:Hugo Ekitike issues apology to Liverpool fans after red card in Southampton winREAD MORE:Hugo Ekitike warned by Liverpool team-mate after 'silly' red card

"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."

It was an opinion mirrored by Ekitike's teammate Andy Robertson.

He will learn from it and I am sure he won't do it again."

Ekitike took to Instagram after the game to apologise for his red card.

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