Arne Slot hails ‘special’ Hugo Ekitike as Liverpool thrash Eintracht Frankfurt
The Reds ended their miserable run of four straight defeats in emphatic fashion, producing arguably their finest display of the season at Deutsche Bank Park
Arne Slot expressed his delight with the performance of Hugo Ekitike, whose “special” goal helped Liverpool cruise to a 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
The Reds ended their miserable run of four straight defeats in emphatic fashion, producing arguably their finest display of the season at Deutsche Bank Park to get back to winning ways ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brentford.
After Rasmus Kristensen opened the scoring for the hosts, Hugo Ekitike drew Liverpool level in stunning fashion, racing through the entire Frankfurt half to slot home Andy Robertson’s through ball.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté then both headed in from corners to give Arne Slot’s side a commanding lead before half-time.
Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai added further goals after the interval to complete the rout, and Slot was full of praise for £79million signing Ekitike, who shone against his former club on the night.
“The first goal he scored was special,” Liverpool boss Slot said.
“You can see the space in the moment like this and these are all the moments you are hoping for before the game. We were able to create many, many, many chances, but unfortunately we were not always able to score them [lately].
“Today with Alex (Isak) and Hugo, we had two on the pitch who are usually able to score goals. Alex was a few times close, but had to go off at half time, that is not something you ask for. That’s the difficult balance with him.
“Both of them did what I was hoping for, making runs in behind, making sure they are a big threat. And both of them did well.
“I wouldn’t say Hugo [has adapted] the quickest but he has done well for us every time he plays.
“But the focus is maybe on goals and assists – which he has done well for us – but there are other parts of the game which are needed to win a game of football.
“I saw players working really hard for them to create one or two counters and one of them we scored, which is a main part of our game.
“Hugo had a big chance and scored, Alex had a few, didn’t score yet but unfortunately had to go off at half time.”
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