Ally McCoist enraptured by ‘brilliant’ moment from Liverpool debutant in first half v Palace | OneFootball

Ally McCoist was left in awe of one ‘brilliant’ moment from a Liverpool debutant in the early minutes of the Community Shield.

Arne Slot handed an official LFC debut to four players when he named his starting XI to take on Crystal Palace at Wembley this afternoon, with Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong all making their first official appearance for the Reds in the traditional curtain raiser to the English club season.

The French striker was on target inside the first four minutes in northwest London, emulating Darwin Nunez by scoring on his Liverpool debut in the Community Shield, as the Uruguayan did against Manchester City three years ago.

McCoist wowed by Ekitike’s first Liverpool goal

The 23-year-old played a smart one-two with Wirtz before turning brilliantly past Adam Wharton and Chris Richards and then curling an inch-perfect shot into the far corner of Dean Henderson’s net.

Speaking on co-commentary duty for TNT Sports, McCoist raved: “It’s a brilliant goal. When the ball gets played in to him, he thinks about a backheel but decides against it. What a way to say hello to everybody!”

(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Hopefully the first of many for Ekitike at Liverpool!

Ekitike is evidently intent on repaying his initial £69m transfer fee very, very quickly, judging by his first-half performance at Wembley!

Not long after that exquisite finish, which was rightly lauded by McCoist (a prominent goalscorer in his playing days), he produced a sublime first touch to set up a chance which ultimately fell to Cody Gakpo, who was denied by Henderson but had appeared to stray offside in any case.

The Frenchman netted 22 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt last season and is already off the mark for Liverpool; and even if the Reds do sign Alexander Isak this month, our number 22 looks like he’ll enjoy a wonderfully prolific first year on Merseyside, if his Wembley performance is any indicator.

It was quite a way for Ekitike to open his account for LFC, and hopefully it’ll be the first of many in the famous shirt for him!

You can view Ekitike’s goal (and McCoist’s commentary) below, via @footballontnt on X: