Stupidity collides with sleekness in Liverpool’s tale of two strikers

 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’.”

Will Still, who managed Ekitike at Reims, could afford to smile about it. “We caught up before the game and he said he would come on and score and give me his shirt and bugger off,” said the Southampton manager.

But Slot was more serious. Ekitike will be suspended for Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace. It may make it all the more important Isak was withdrawn after 45 minutes.

With his watching brief in the second half, the Swede had further evidence of Liverpool’s ability to make life difficult for themselves. Their winning habit remains but so, too, does an inability to look completely convincing. Slot was critical. “I was happy with a few performances but far from happy with a few others,” he said. The guilty will know who they are.

And a starting 11 costing some £250m – even if half of that went on Isak – and replacements who came for another £120m were pegged back by a team 19th in the Championship, winless since the opening day and with a mere three victories in 52 league matches.

Liverpool were horribly to blame for the leveller. Wataru Endo met Ryan Manning’s corner with an awful header, straight to Joshua Quarshie, who helped the ball into Shea Charles’ path. The Northern Ireland international scored his first goal for Southampton.

Perhaps it came a little too early, giving Liverpool time to get a winner, but Southampton could have scored sooner and Slot’s second-string side, like their supposed superiors, lacked solidity.