Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor. Picture: talkSPORT/ Youtubeplaceholder image
Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor. Picture: talkSPORT/ Youtube | Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor. Picture: talkSPORT/ Youtube
Liverpool fell to a 2-0 loss against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Gabby Agbonalhor hit out at the performance of Hugo Ekitike in Liverpool’s loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Parc des Princes. Liverpool were toothless in the final third, having just three shots, while PSG’s triumph could have been more emphatic. Desire Dou and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were on the scoresheet.
The majority of Liverpool’s players were under-par against the reigning European champions as pressure on head coach Arne Slot continued. And Agbonlahor reckons that the display of Ekitike, who was facing his former club PSG, was among the worst. Former Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor said on talkSPORT: “Ekitike was an absolute disgrace, and we’re big fans of him. He didn’t turn up, he didn’t try, he was lazy. Every time he got one vs one, he’d give the ball away."
A shock from the PSG loss was that Mo Salah was an unused substitute despite Liverpool needing goals. While Salah has had a difficult season and will leave the club next month, he could have made a difference in the final third.
Agbonlahor suggested that the decisions means it’s not ‘looking good’ for the future of Slot, who faces calls to be removed from the Anfield hot seat from substantial sections of supporters.
"Mo Salah didn’t even come on,” Agbonlahor added. “A young lad came on before Mo Salah. It’s not looking good for Arne Slot. You’re starting to look at some of these players and you’re saying, ‘are you really fighting for the manager?’ It doesn’t look like it."
Explaining his decision to leave Salah on the bench, Slot said at his post-match press conference: “I think in the last part of the game, it was more about surviving for us than there was ever a chance that we could score. Yeah, you never know, because last season we scored five minutes before the end, Harvey Elliott [scored] when I took Mo off.
“But I think this was a 20, 25 minutes where we were only defending and Mo has so much quality, but for Mo to be 20, 25 minutes defending inside his own box, I think it’s better for him to save his energy for a lot of games that are coming up in the upcoming weeks.”
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