Mohamed Salah had to be reassured that Liverpool weren’t breaking the rules when a little-known substitution rule came into play during their win over Southampton.
The Reds came out 3-1 victors over the relegation-destined Saints on Saturday, with Salah bagging two from the spot to help guide Liverpool to a comeback win.
With the result all but sealed, Arne Slot’s side looked to make a late substitution, which was their sixth of the game – one more than the usual five that are allotted.
Fearing a points deduction could be warranted if Liverpool breached the rules and brought on one extra man, Salah frantically tried to prevent the substitution from being completed.
However, Liverpool were in fact allowed to make a sixth substitution due to an incident that occurred earlier in the game.
Jan Bednarek was forced off in the first-half after picking up a head injury, with Southampton using one of their concussion substitutions as such.
These can be made outside of their standard five changes as per the Premier League rules – a law introduced in 2021 to encourage teams to not take any risks when dealing with potential concussions.
It also allows an extra switch for the opposition – meaning when Bednarek made way, Liverpool now had six subs to play with rather than five.
This change in the rulebook was apparently unbeknownst to Salah, who was desperate to not allow his side to make what he perceived to be a costly error.
Only after referee Lewis Smith explained that no wrongdoing was being done did Salah allow the late change, which saw Jarell Quansah come on for Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 89th minute.
Salah’s confusion evoked a warm reaction from the Liverpool faithful, with one fan writing on Reddit: ‘Salah won’t let anything stop us from winning the PL.’
While Liverpool came out victorious against the Premier League’s resident punching bag, it wasn’t all smooth sailing as Southampton took a shock lead on the brink of half-time – Will Smallbone capitalising on a defensive miscommunication between Alisson and Virgil van Dijk before slotting home.
Their advantage only lasted six minutes after the restart, however, with Darwin Nunez firing home to equalise.
The Uruguyan then won Liverpool a penalty moments later, which Salah converted with aplomb.
The Egyptian netted another spot-kick with two minutes left to play to give Liverpool breathing space, sealing the win in another record-breaking performance.
As well as climbing to outright third place on Liverpool’s all-time top goalscorers list, Salah has also become the joint-fifth highest ever scorer in the league with Sergio Aguero on 184 goals.