Ekitike took the floor

But not as French international forward Hugo Ekitike equalized for his team in the 41st minute and then scored a second goal in the 43rd minute to the great joy of their coach Arne Slot. The game over came in the 67th minute. The “creator” of the first goal scored, with Florian Wirtz scoring the 3-1, while the “icing on the cake” was put by French international stopper Ibrahima Konate, after a mistake by Nick Pope, just before the finale!

Even manager Eddie Howe could only throw up his hands.

"Sometimes you have to recognise the player you have in front of you, but you have to recognise that we could have defended better," he said.

“Ekitike is a great player and you saw that again. He's got a bit of everything and that's his biggest strength. He's tall, he's quick and he can finish.”

He has already scored 15 goals for Liverpool. Ekitike was just 19 and relatively unknown in this country when Newcastle first tried to sign him from Reims in 2022. The young forward had “a lot of respect” for the Ravens but did not feel it was the right time to leave mid-season.

However, when Newcastle called him back a few months later, he chose to join Paris Saint-Germain before later moving to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Newcastle were hoping the third time would be the luckiest but that didn't happen again in the summer as Ekitike signed for the Reds.

This was a night when Ekitike became the youngest player to reach double figures for Liverpool in a league season (since Michael Owen in 2000-01).

He looks like Torres

But it was a performance that earned him comparisons to another equally excellent forward, the Spaniard, Fernando Torres. The Ekitike-Wirtz partnership continues to shine.

Ekitike's second goal was a prime example. Together with the German, Wirtz get along perfectly and plan great things. It was almost a carbon copy of Torres' first goal for Liverpool, against Chelsea in 2007.

The Frenchman took the ball from Hungarian Milos Kerkez on the left, passed Malik Thiaw and finished in a beautiful manner.

And the resemblance certainly didn't go unnoticed by onlooker Steven Gerrard, who set up Torres against the Blues.

"It's all about Hugo Ekitike running the channel," he told TNT Sports. "He's like Torres.

“He's got it all out of his legs and that flick of his fingers... He reminds me of Torres every time I see him.”

Gerrard formed a deadly partnership with Torres between 2007 and 2011 - and Florian Wirtz and Ekiti are starting to develop a similar understanding.

The pair have become friends off the pitch and it shows, with Wirtz and Ekitike having scored six goals between them in all competitions - more than any other duo in the Premier League.