Isak starts to pay back huge fee with first Liverpool goal

Record signing Alexander Isak scored his first Reds goal, while Hugo Ekitike grabbed the winner then got sent off

- RICHARD JOLLY

And to think some worried Hugo Ekitike would be overshadowed by Alexander Isak at Anfield.

On the night the £125m man opened his account for his new club, Ekitike contrived to upstage his striking rival, extending Liverpool’s extraordinary record of late deciders and yet drawing cutting criticism from his manager.

For the sixth time in seven games, Liverpool won late on; for the fourth time after they had lost a lead. And yet this drama at the death against Southampton took on a novel twist as Ekitike tapped in a centre from the excellent Federico Chiesa and promptly brought his own contribution to an end. Already booked for punching the ball away in a display of dissent, he collected a second yellow card for taking his shirt off in celebration.

The Frenchman has made a fine impression in his brief Liverpool career but this, as Arne Slot was swift to say, was sheer stupidity.

“Needless, not smart, I called it stupid straight away as well,” he said. “The first one was already needless and to a certain extent stupid because you have to control your emotions.”

He was irritated, too, by the egotistical nature of Ekitike's reaction, downplaying the role of the outstanding Chiesa. “I told him that 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],” he added. “But I am old-fashioned, I’m 47 and old. I never played at this level but I did score a few goals and if I scored a goal like this, I’d have turned around and walked up to Federico Chiesa and said: “This goal is all about you, this is not about me.”