Ian Doyle with the main talking point after Liverpool suffer a disappointing Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley on Sunday afternoon
Funny how history repeats. The last time Liverpool were in Community Shield action, their big-money striker summer arrival marked the occasion with a goal to prompt fevered anticipation among supporters of what was to come.
Frustratingly, Darwin Nunez never truly lived up to his initial billing despite having left the club on Saturday for Saudi Arabia as a Premier League winner.
It would wise, then, for expectations to be tempered around Hugo Ekitike after the £79million signing from Eintracht Frankfurt announced himself in emphatic fashion during Sunday’s clash against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
But it was difficult not to be enthused by the performance of the Frenchman, not least given he has spent less than three weeks with his new team-mates and has just two previous Liverpool appearances under his belt.
Certainly, Ekitike couldn’t have started any better here. Only four minutes were on the clock when, having twice exchanged passes with fellow new signing Florian Wirtz down the inside left channel, he cut inside on to his right foot and thumped into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
While the finish was, in some respects, akin to Nunez in being unexpectedly spectacular, that Ekitike drifted back onside when accepting the initial ball from Wirtz could be argued as being very much unlike his former team-mate.
And there were other aspects of Ekitike’s game that impressed, showing strength up against the physical Palace defenders, pace to stretch the opposing rearguard and already an understanding with several of his team-mates, Wirtz and Cody Gakpo in particular.
One touch that sent Mohamed Salah scurrying away in the first half was sublime and Ekitike was close with a chance after the break having earlier sent a decent header wastefully wide.
Of course, the sample size is small and there’s the fact Liverpool still want to bolster their attack with another forward, Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak still their main target.
But the fans have already made up their minds. It didn’t take long for “Hugo, Hugo” chants to come from the Liverpool supporters inside Wembley, repurposing their salute to the departed Nunez.
Ekitike was replaced with 20 minutes remaining, his job done long before the debacle of the penalty shoot-out which meant the forward, unlike Nunez three years previous, couldn’t celebrate silverware come full-time.
His signing was never about this match. But Ekitike has made an encouraging first step.
