Liverpool boss Arne Slot has hit out at Hugo Ekitike for his “stupid” decision to take off his shirt and snub team-mate Federico Chiesa in their League Cup win over Southampton.
The Reds took the lead on 43 minutes with Alexander Isak scoring his first goal for the club following his drawn-out summer transfer from Newcastle United.
Shea Charles got a deserved equaliser for Southampton on 76 minutes but Liverpool struck back with five minutes remaining through Ekitike.
After being found from a ball over the top, Chiesa ran into the penalty area and slid the ball across to Ekitike to tap home past Alex McCarthy in the Saints net.
Instead of turning round to celebrate with the Italy international, Ekitike ran to the corner flag to take off his shirt and show his name to the crowd.
Ekitike, who had already been booked, got a second yellow card for taking his top off and Slot was frustrated by the Liverpool striker’s actions.
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Slot told ITV: “I didn’t understand it.
“Maybe I’m a bit old fashioned and a bit old school, but if I scored a goal after going past three men and hit it in the top corner, I would have maybe celebrated completely by myself.
“But if I got an assist like that one from Federico Chiesa, I probably would have turned around and pointed at him like ‘yeah you have made this whole goal for me’.
“So that’s why I was a little bit surprised that is how he celebrated. And even worse, took his shirt off and got his second yellow.
“Not just because it was a second yellow but it always stupid to take your shirt off and take a yellow because if this happens somewhere in the game every time you make a foul it could be a second yellow.
“I think if you score a goal like this, I would have gone to the guy who made the assist, but that is not so important, it’s stupid to take your shirt off.”
On the red card, Slot added in his press conference: “No, I would prefer to start with something positive, which is not positive but the tribute we gave Matt Beard was, I think, of Liverpool standards.
“How the fans always do this is something that makes me proud to represent this club, how we always find a way to be so respectful for people that have done so much for our club.
“Then we go immediately because of your question to the last minutes of the game, where Hugo got a second yellow card. What were your two words? That was ‘needless’, yes. And it was ‘stupid’. Yeah, it was.
“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 Premier League or every league in the world, if you are a No.9 then the defender can almost do everything he wants, and then when you shirt-pull a little bit or you push him a little bit then you get a free-kick against you.
“But it’s always the best to control your emotions, and if you cannot control your emotions 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 [last season], that is always stupid because you can show your emotions but if it leads to a yellow or a red card then it’s stupid. And that’s what happened in the first yellow.
“I told him as well and I said it to numerous media already, if you score in a Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner, I can maybe understand that you’re like, ‘This is all about me, what did I do?’ But I am old fashioned, I’m 47 and old maybe.
“I haven’t played at this level but I did score a few goals and if I would have scored a goal like this, I would have turned around and walked up to, in this situation, Federico Chiesa and said, ‘This goal is all about you, this is not about me.’ So, yeah, needless, not smart. You call it stupid. I call it stupid, by the way, as well.”