Arne Slot has insisted that cramp was the reason why he substituted Rio Ngumoha as Liverpool chased a winner against Chelsea.
There were audible boos from home fans at Anfield when the starlet was brought off in the 67th minute of their 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Ngumoha assisted Ryan Gravenberch for the opening goal to put him on three goal contributions in his breakthrough season at Liverpool.
Aged 17 years and 253 days, he is the third youngest player to score or assist a goal in the Premier League against Chelsea.
Only James Milner and Lewis Miley have done so at a younger age – 16 years and 358 days, and 17 years and 208 days, respectively.
Alexander Isak was the man to replace Ngumoha when the score was level, with Slot’s decision to bring him off met with discontent.
However, when he spoke to talkSPORT after the full-time whistle, he explained why the former Chelsea academy winger was replaced.
“No, I wasn’t,” he said when asked whether or not he was surprised by the reaction from Liverpool fans.
“I knew the moment his number went up that that would have been the reaction because they like the player, I like the player, they like what he did today, I liked what he did today.
“I would have loved to see him (play) 20, 25 minutes more on the pitch, but the reality is that three minutes before that, he went to the floor with cramp attacks.
“I asked him how he was, and he said to me that I had to take him off.
“We all knew that this would have been a reaction, and that’s completely normal because they like to see him, I like to see him, he did really well today again, as he’s done many times.
“As it is in football, so many times, people don’t have all the knowledge but they still judge you, which makes complete sense.
“Because if you have all the knowledge, maybe there would be a different reaction but if you don’t, this was a reaction that I expected.”
Liverpool all but over the line
Victory against a faltering Chelsea side who lost their previous six league matches would have confirmed a top-five finish for Liverpool.
Gravenberch appeared to steer them on the right course with only six minutes played as he rifled in from range.
However, Enzo Fernandez brought Chelsea level ten minutes before the break with a free-kick that caught Liverpool’s defence off guard.
Chelsea even looked to have scored a second via Cole Palmer early on in the second half, but an offside in the build-up disallowed the goal.
Liverpool are fourth in the table ahead of their final two matches and six points clear of Brighton in sixth.
They can therefore confirm qualification for the Champions League next season with just a point against Aston Villa on Friday.
However, if Liverpool were to finish sixth, they would qualify as long as Villa come fifth and win the Europa League.