Hugo Ekitike apologized to Liverpool fans for being sent off after celebrating his game-winning goal against Southampton in the English League Cup on Tuesday.
Liverpool coach Arne Slot described the France striker's actions as “needless” and “stupid.”
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Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike holds the ball during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike gets a red card after taking his shirt off after scores his side's second goal during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Ekitike will miss the Premier League match against Crystal Palace on Saturday as a result of being shown red for removing his shirt while celebrating the 85th-minute goal in Liverpool's 2-1 victory.
“The emotion got the better of me tonight. My apologies to all the Red family,” he posted on Instagram after the game.
The 23-year-old forward had already been shown a yellow card for dissent after coming on as a halftime substitute.
"Needless? Yes. And it was stupid. The first one was already needless and to a certain extent, stupid, as you have got to control your emotions,” Slot said. “I told him that if you score in the Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner I can maybe understand. He is like, ‘This is all about me, what did I do’.
“But I am old-fashioned, I’m 47 and old. I never played at this level, but did score a few goals and if I scored a goal like this, I’d have turned around and walked up to Federico Chiesa and said, ‘This goal is all about you, this is not about me.’"
Ekitike’s latest goal was his fifth in eight games for Liverpool after joining the Premier League champion from Eintracht Frankfurt for $93.5 million in July.
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Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike holds the ball during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike gets a red card after taking his shirt off after scores his side's second goal during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.
“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.
It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.
Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.
While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.
NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.
The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
NASA astronaut Zena Cardman is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule being taken into the recovery vessel after crew members re entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Mike Fincke getting helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Zena Cardman being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
