Arne Slot has described Hugo Ekitike‘s red card as “needless and stupid,” with the striker now suspended for Liverpool’s next Premier League match.
Ekitike was shown a yellow card for throwing the ball away and then for an excessive celebration, earning him a one-match suspension he will serve on Saturday.
The red card was entirely avoidable and leaves Slot without a striker who has scored three goals across his five Premier League starts to date for the trip to Selhurst Park.
• READ: Hugo Ekitike SUSPENDED vs. Crystal Palace after red card
It was the obvious topic of discussion after Liverpool secured their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, and Slot did not mince his words after the fact.
“It was needless, yes. And it was stupid, yep,” he told reporters.
“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 if you play the Premier League, or any other league in the world, if you are a No. 9, as the defender can do almost everything he wants, but if you push him a little bit you get a free-kick against you.
“But it’s always best to control your emotions, and if you can’t, do it in a way that doesn’t lead to a yellow card.
“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 card then it’s stupid.
“That’s what happened with the first yellow. Then I told him as well, 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 ‘it’s all about me’.
“But I’m old-fashioned, I’m 47, and old, and I haven’t played at this level, but I did score a few goals, and if I would’ve scored goal like this, I would’ve turned around to Federico Chiesa and said, ‘this goal is all about you’.
“Needless, not smart, you call it stupid and I call it stupid as well.”
Robbo: He won’t do it again
Andy Robertson, captain on the night, offered an honest reaction post-match on the “silly” bookings that were entirely avoidable.
“I’ll be very surprised if he does it again,” Robertson told Sky Sports.
“I think scoring a goal is always emotional, and you always get that emotion. But yeah, he’s obviously just forgot that he’s been booked.
“The first one is stupidity, kicking the ball away. We know the rules around that.
“And then, yeah, it’s two silly bookings to pick up, and now we obviously miss him for Saturday. It’s silly from his part, but he’s only young, and he’ll learn from it.
“Happy that he scored, but then, you know, last 10 minutes it was made a bit more difficult being down to 10 men, so he’ll learn from it and like I said, I’m sure he won’t do it again.”
Liverpool 2-1 Southampton
