Mohamed Salah risks backlash with reaction to Liverpool sub vs Forest | Football | Sport

Both Salah and fellow struggler Cody Gakpo were taken off for Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha as Slot brought on fresh legs to try and find a late winner. And the Dutchman thought that he got exactly what he hoped for, when midfielder Alexis Mac Allister sent the away end into raptures with a goal, only for it to be disallowed for handball after a VAR review.

Ola Aina’s clearance was blasted against Mac Allister and the ball deflected into the net, but VAR quickly intervened to rule that the ball hit the Argentine’s elbow, culling Liverpool’s celebrations.

Earlier in the match, it appeared that Liverpool’s most likely route to goal would be through a piece of luck as their attack, led by Salah and hit with a blow following Florian Wirtz’s withdrawal in the warm-up, looked severely blunted.

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Salah has struggled to match the standards he has set since arriving in the Premier League and the sight of him being taken off is becoming increasingly regular.

Remarkably, Mac Allister had the ball in the net once again in the 97th minute, but VAR looked at whether Virgil van Dijk was offside in the build-up.

This time, however, the goal was given and Mac Allister and Liverpool snatched all three points with Salah smarting on the bench.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher described the final result as a ‘robbery’ and chastised Salah and Gakpo for a teenager outperforming them in Ngumoha’s few minutes off the bench.

“That’s one of the biggest robberies I’ve seen in the Premier League this season,” Carragher said. “Ngumoha did more in 15 minutes than Salah and Gakpo did before that. He changed the game and needs to be starting games.

“There’s no-one better in getting last-minute winners in Premier League – and that is Liverpool.”

Slot certainly has a dilemma on his hands, with the 17-year-old pushing to start over one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players, who is enduring his worst season at Anfield.