MOHAMED SALAH had to be reassured that his team weren’t about to break the rules in the late stages of Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Southampton on Saturday.
Salah was spotted doing everything he could to stop Jarrell Quansah from being substituted on in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the Egyptian fearing Liverpool were about go over their quota of substitutes.
The Reds had already made five changes – the usual limit in a Premier League match – before Quansah was warming up on the touchline.
And fearing punishment for going over their allotted amount, Salah was “desperately” trying to stop the sixth sub of the match in the 89th minute.
That was until referee Lewis Smith went over to explain that a little-known rule was in play and Liverpool were allowed to make a sixth switch.
A head injury to Armel Bella-Kotchap in the first half had led to Southampton leaning on a concussion substitution to replace the German with Jan Bednarek.
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Concussion protocol rules enforce that if a team uses a concussion substitute it does not count towards their allocation of tactical switches.
As a result, the opposition team are granted a sixth change too – meaning Liverpool’s decision to bring on Quansah was perfectly legal.
Fans online were all for Salah’s attempts to stop the substitution, telling that it was an example of just how much he wants to win the league.
One wrote: “Mo was trying to prevent it from happening in case we get docked points. He’s really making sure we win the league”.
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Even if Liverpool had gone over their quota it is very unlikely they would have been handed any kind of points deduction for the blunder.
IFAB rules state that any team trying to exceed the permitted number of subs “must be prevented by the referee”.
Salah’s influence on the game didn’t stop at trying to prevent tactical errors.
The Premier League’s leading goalscorer added two more to his tally as he scored twice from the penalty spot in the 3-1 win.
Both penalties came after Darwin Nunez had levelled for the Merseyside outfit following a Will Smallbone opener for the Saints.
Liverpool’s victory means they are now an astonishing 16 points clear at the top of the table, with closest rivals Arsenal travelling to face Manchester United this afternoon.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
