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Hugo Ekitike almost looked sheepish as he described the feeling of scoring against his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt. But it was a huge moment for Liverpool that could prove pivotal.
The French striker, set through on goal by Andy Robertson, finished coolly through the legs of Michael Zetterer. "I have so much respect for them," he said at the final whistle. "I wouldn't be here at Liverpool if I didn't come to Frankfurt."
After starting the fastest of any Liverpool signing — settling into life in England seamlessly — Ekitike is surely one of the first names on the teamsheet for the trip to Brentford this weekend, regardless of the extent of Alexander Isak's groin issue.
The 23-year-old is Liverpool's top scorer so far this season, but his all-round game has been impressive of late. He is clearly an intelligent number nine and is well on the way to justifying the $106 million (£79 million) price tag.
"The first goal we scored was special," Arne Slot said in his post-game press conference. "You could see his pace in a moment like that. These were also moments we were also hoping for.
"Like I said before the game, we were able in the last few weeks to create many, many, many chances, but unfortunately, we were not always able to score them. Today with Alex and Hugo, I brought two players on the pitch who are usually able to score goals."
Right now, there is no question that Ekitike should be ahead of Isak in the pecking order, however. The only argument for the Swede leading the race for minutes is to build up his match fitness.
Having felt his groin in Germany — Slot will offer an update on that later today — Isak may not even be able to take part in the upcoming fixtures, but in a way that will at least remove one selection headache.
It might even solve the major dilemma that is brewing with Mohamed Salah, too. Like Isak, the Egyptian is simply not firing at the moment, and deleting the Liverpool elements of his social media channels is a sign that all is not right.
If Isak is unavailable against Brentford, that might mean Slot can bring Salah back into the team without dropping Ekitike or Florian Wirtz, who both deserve to remain in the side.
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Isak was a star performer on the night, with Wirtz up there alongside him as he created several chances and notched two assists.
If Ryan Gravenberch is back after missing the trip to Germany with the knock he picked up against Manchester United, that will complicate things, given Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai are undroppable.
But Slot found the right balance against an admittedly wide-open Eintracht Frankfurt and that has to be the template as the domestic action returns. Brentford will be a completely different challenge — but an opportunity to further generate some positive momentum.
If there is a dilemma to be solved regarding an out-of-sorts Salah, the decision on starting Ekitike should already have been made. For now, the rest of the Liverpool attack should be built around him.
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