The match was excessively intense with red cards flying across the field. Hugo Ekiti Ke admitted the victory over Spurs felt more like a "war" than football.
On 21 Dec 2025 GMT+7, Liverpool forward Hugo Ekiti Ke openly admitted that the narrow 2-1 away win against Tottenham Hotspur in London was no less than a "war," having faced brutality far beyond normal football limits, with the home team receiving two red cards and the match filled with aggressive clashes.
In the match, Liverpool scored through Ekiti Ke and Alexander Isak, who opened the scoring in the 56th minute but was unfortunately injured in a knee clash with Mickey van de Fen and had to be substituted later.
The first half was almost without clear chances except for a key moment when Spurs' Chabbi Simmons committed a dangerous tackle on Virgil van Dijk and received a direct red card, forcing Spurs to play with 10 men from early on.
In the second half, Liverpool extended their lead with a header by Ekiti Ke making it 2-0. The tension rose when Richarlison scored to make it 2-1 in the 83rd minute. Despite Spurs pushing forward despite being a man down, they ended up with only 9 men after Cristian Romero received a second yellow card and was sent off.
After the match, Ekiti Ke revealed that this was not a regular football game.
“It was a very physical game with too many clashes. Some moments were bad. That wasn’t football at all; it was like a war. But we won this war.”
This victory gave Liverpool their third consecutive win in all competitions and moved them up to fifth place in the Premier League table, though they paid the price of losing Isak to injury.