Arne Slot praises 'special' Liverpool star and explains how Dominik Szoboszlai chat changed game

Reaction from Arne Slot as Liverpool hammer Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Champions League

Arne Slot declared himself delighted with the performance of Hugo Ekitike, whose "special" goal put Liverpool on the way to a 5-1 hammering of Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.

The Reds ended their miserable run of four defeats in a row in style as they produced their finest display of the campaign at Deutsche Bank Park to get back to winning ways ahead of Saturday's trip to Brentford.

After Rasmus Kristensen had opened the scoring, Ekitike raced through the entire Frankfurt half from Andy Robertson's through ball to get the visitors level before Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate both headed in from corners.

OPINION

Ian Doyle

OPINION

Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai put the gloss on the result in the second period and Slot was pleased with how £79m Ekitike performed against his former club on the night.

"The first goal he scored was special," 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."

Slot also revealed the contents of a pitchside chat with midfielder Szoboszlai, where the game-plan was changed to enable the Premier League champions to press more effectively.

Slot added: "The topic [of the conversation with Szoboszlai] was that my team and myself watched six or seven or eight games against the opponents and not once did they play like this.

"We expected a 4-4-2, we weren't expecting a 5-2-3. The good thing is it's quite familiar to us, Crystal Palace play it, Manchester United play it, Burnley play it.

"So I had to adjust a little bit how we wanted to press, so that was the conversation with Dominik, who again put in a good performance again. He is one of the players, after Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah, who made the most appearances for me. So that tells you what I think about him.

"We needed the win and what we needed more was another game where the players created the chances but that the players get the reward with a win. And that is what happened today.

"I saw a lot of similarities today compared to other games because the first chance they got today was immediately a goal and maybe that was their only chance today. We went 3-1 up and controlled it because it is easier to control than 1-0 down.

"But the main difference with this to the four games before was most of the other teams scored set-pieces and now we scored set-pieces, so we are able to focus more on the attacks in the second half than misplaced passes, which we had today, but if you are 3-1 up you are judged differently than 1-0 down."

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