Hugo Ekitike鈥檚 celebrations were cut short when he was shown a red card after firing Liverpool into the third round of the English League Cup with a late winner against Southampton on Tuesday.
The striker will now be suspended for the Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Liverpool later confirmed.
Ekitike converted from close range in the 85th minute to secure a 2-1 win at Anfield after second-tier Southampton had threatened to force a penalty shootout. But his joy turned to anguish when he was sent off for a second yellow card after taking off his shirt during his celebrations.
Ekitike’s latest goal was his fifth in eight games for Liverpool after having joined the Premier League champion this offseason .
Liverpool had led through British record signing Alexander Isak’s first goal for the club since his British record $170 million . But Southampton 鈥 19th in the Championship 鈥 leveled in the 76th through Shea Charles.
With thoughts turning to a shootout, Liverpool produced another late rescue act 鈥 scoring a winner in the final 10 minutes for the sixth time this season.
鈥淣ot the best performance, which you can expect if you play a complete new team,鈥 said Slot, who made 11 changes from the lineup that beat Everton on Saturday.
Chelsea avoided becoming the latest giant to crash out of the Cup by beating third-tier Lincoln City 2-1 after a second-half fightback.
Isak gets off the mark
After becoming the most expensive player in British soccer history, Isak began to repay his fee by opening his Liverpool account with a clinically taken close-range effort in 43rd.
It was only his second start after his drawn-out move from Newcastle impacted in offseason preparations.
The Sweden international was withdrawn at halftime, with Slot easing him into the action at the start of the season.
But he could be called upon to start against Palace following Ekitike’s red.
鈥淚t was good to get back out there and score my first goal here, at Anfield,鈥 Isak told ITV. “With every game I play it鈥檚 very helpful and gets me in better shape. I鈥檓 just getting more and more ready.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a mixture of fitness-wise and also football-wise. I feel good, I feel like I鈥檓 in a shape to at least make a difference.鈥
Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni was taken off on a stretcher after appearing to land awkwardly while making a tackle late on.
鈥淥f course, he is down because for him it didn鈥檛 feel good immediately, but this is something now we have to assess,鈥 Slot said.
Chelsea survives a scare
World champion in July 鈥 trailing at third-tier Lincoln in September.
Down 1-0 at halftime, Chelsea turned the game around after the break with quickfire goals from Tyrique George and Facundo Buonanotte.
This season’s League Cup has already produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of the tournament when fourth-tier Grimsby eliminated Manchester United in the last round. And when Rob Street fired Lincoln ahead in the 42nd minute against Chelsea, it looked like another upset could be on the cards.
But the Premier League team powered back with George leveling in the 48th and Buonanotte hitting the winner two minutes later.
While Chelsea avoided elimination, it was a different story for another top-flight club in Burnley, which was beaten at home 2-1 by Cardiff.
There was no such trouble for Brighton, which beat Barnsley 6-0, with Diego Gomez scoring a first-half hat trick and four goals in total.
Despite being pointless in the league, Wolves beat Everton 2-0, while Fulham overcame Cambridge 1-0.
Wrexham’s club-record signing Nathan Broadhead struck twice for the Welsh team in a 2-0 against Reading.
When is the 4th round draw?
The draw for the fourth round is on Wednesday, following the last remaining third-round games.
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