In the concluded third round of the Carabao Cup, Liverpool beat Southampton 2-1. Ékitik scored the winning goal but was then shown a second yellow card and sent off for taking off his shirt in celebration, meaning he will miss the weekend’s match against Crystal Palace.
If Hugo Ekitić was unaware of the standards and professionalism required of a Liverpool player, he should now be well aware of them after being sent off with a red card in the EFL Cup match against Southampton.
The French international got off to a brilliant start to his career on Merseyside, but scoring four goals in just a few matches has not exempted him from being fined by the club for a lack of discipline.
Specific details have not yet been confirmed, but Ekitić is likely to have two weeks' wages deducted.
Financial punishment is one thing. For a modern footballer, you could reasonably argue that it is not the end of the world, and they might not even notice a difference by the end of the month—this has always been standard practice and will continue to be so.
However, the harshest condemnation for Ekitić will come from within the dressing room.
It was a quite striking scene to see Jeremie Frimpong shoving the 22-year-old in the chest. He was furious at the time, as Liverpool would have to play with 10 men for the final few minutes of their third-round tie.(It was quite a sight to see Jeremie Frimpong pushing the 22-year-old in the chest, so incensed was he that Liverpool were going to have to play the final few minutes of their third-round tie with 10 men.)
Frimpong joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen, where Xabi Alonso once emphasized discipline and stated that letting teammates down was sacrilege. He did not hesitate to step up. Just imagine how the veteran players in Liverpool's dressing room would react.
“He won’t do that again,” said vice-captain Andy Robertson—and you know these words are not unfounded.
