Alexander Isak marked a landmark moment in his Liverpool career on Tuesday night, netting his first goal for the club in a hard-fought 2-1 win over Southampton in the EFL Cup at Anfield.
The Swedish striker, who joined the Reds this summer, was given his first start of his Liverpool career as promised by Arne Slot in his pre-match press conference and the striker struck late in the first half after pouncing on a defensive lapse and finishing off a clever cut-back from Federico Chiesa. His breakthrough came just seconds after Saints forward Adam Armstrong rattled the crossbar, with Leo Scienza missing the rebound. Within moments, Liverpool turned defence into attack, and Isak made no mistake with a calm finish.
Interestingly, it was also Isak’s final contribution of the evening, as head coach Arne Slot replaced him at half-time to carefully manage his minutes. His substitute, Hugo Ekitike, would later become the centre of attention for both the right and wrong reasons, the striker who revealed in an earlier interview reported by Softfootball that his competition with Isak will be very tough, showed why it might be a tough competition and also showed what can go wrong should he lose his head like he did tonight.
After Shea Charles capitalised on Wataru Endo’s miscued header to level for Southampton in the 76th minute, Liverpool looked set for a nervy closing spell. But Ekitike, lively since his introduction, restored the lead by slotting home from another Chiesa assist with less than 10 minutes to play.
His celebration, however, proved costly. Already on a yellow card for an earlier foul, the French striker removed his shirt in joy and was promptly shown a second booking, reducing Liverpool to 10 men for the closing stages. Slot’s young side held firm under pressure, but Ekitike will now miss Saturday’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace through suspension.
Liverpool Celebrated making it to the third round with a celebratory video uploaded on the teams official X account.
Watch the video below:
While Liverpool were far from their fluid best, Slot’s decision to make 11 changes highlighted the depth at his disposal. The Reds, who have lifted the League Cup a record 10 times and reached three of the last four finals, once again showed their knack for finding a way through tight contests.
