Hugo Ekitike stuck to promise amid red card controversy that angered Arne Slot

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The French striker became Liverpool's match-winner, netting an 85th-minute strike to defeat Still and the Saints.

Nevertheless, his celebration for the decisive goal resulted in a second booking and a one-match suspension, which he will serve when the Reds face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

Following the encounter, Still disclosed that Ekitike had jokingly predicted he would come on as a substitute, find the back of the net, hand over his jersey, and "bugger off" - which is precisely what transpired.

"Hugo cracks me up, he's a funny lad," said Still.

"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.



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 posted an apology to supporters on social media following his dismissal, which presents Arne Slot with a selection headache ahead of the weekend, considering he has already confirmed the Reds will be managing Alexander Isak's playing time cautiously due to his lack of action during preseason.

However, his actions didn't spare him from a stern reprimand from his manager, who stated: "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

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."