Liverpool ace confirms Arne Slot decision after 'out of this world' moment
Liverpool may have beaten Barnsley 4-1 on Monday but their performance was less than convincing.
Certain members of Arne Slot's starting XI performed well below expectations with some, such as Joe Gomez even being singled out for their poor performance.
Despite most of the Reds' team not doing their best, there were some players who made good names for themselves such as Florian Wirtz and even Rio Ngumoha before he ended up injured.
However, there was one Liverpool attacker who particularly caught the eye of Ally McCoist.
Hugo Ekitike's flick-on assist leaves Ally McCoist in awe
Dominik Szoboszlai may have been the one to open the scoring for Liverpool but after his major blunder almost got Barnsley back into the game, he was fortunate that his teammates managed to turn things around.
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By the 60th minute of the tie, it was unclear whether the Anfield outfit had what it took to keep Barnsley at bay for the final 30 minutes.
This resulted in Slot making three changes which saw both Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz come on and, luckily for Liverpool, that was the exact boost that they needed.
Wirtz and Ekitike seemed to have a synergy with one another from the moment they were brought on and, sure enough, the duo teamed up to get the German his first FA Cup goal for Liverpool.
While Liverpool were on the attack, Ekitike managed to flick the ball towards Wirtz who coolly placed the ball into the top right corner which left McCoist in awe.
"Beautiful goal. Wonderful finish. Lovely flick. Everything about it was special. Ekitike's flick is out of this world," he said while live on TNT Sports.
"Wirtz curls the ball into the top corner and the goalkeeper has no chance."
Arne Slot's decision to leave Hugo Ekitike on the bench worked out
With Ekitike missing Liverpool's last couple of games due to injury, it was unclear whether or not he'd feature on Monday.
In the end, Slot chose against starting the Frenchman but the fact that he named him on the bench to make an impact was a smart move.
Indeed, with the firepower that Liverpool started the game with they should have had more than enough to beat Barnsley.
However, as with most of the Reds' games this season, they've failed to meet the standards expected of them and have often had to rely on one or two of their players to pull through for them.
Fortunately, both Wirtz and Ekitike managed to do this but, without Slot sticking to his guns and keeping them both on the bench, things could have turned out differently and Liverpool may have ended up knocked out of the cup.
Of course, now that he's back to full fitness he's likely to start most of Liverpool's next games, but, if Slot hadn't chosen to bench him against the South Yorkshire outfit, there's no knowing what could've ended up happening.
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