'Best sub ever': Humble Arne Slot 'gets lucky' as Liverpool stars instantly combine to break records
Arne Slot has been hailed after his double substitution of Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas paid off instantly against Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool had been behind the match at the top of the table after Chris Wood's first-half goal at the City Ground.
With his team still behind the hour mark, Slot looked to his bench to turn the game around.
In a double change, Tsimikas and Jot were introduced instead of Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate.
The decision paid off just 22 seconds later, when Liverpool already had a corner waiting to be taken.
Tsimikas' left-footed shot was headed to the far post by Jota in the first touch of both players since they came on.
In terms of goals, Jota made Liverpool history with his fastest Premier League goal scored by a substitute since such records were kept in 2006.
Fans were stunned by the efficiency of Slot's tactical shift on social media.
One fan reacted to the goal and asked, “Did Arne Slot just make the best double sub in history?”
Meanwhile, another wrote: “That's the best substitution ever!”
Jota also addressed the speed of his and Tsimikas' impact off the bench at full time.
He told TNT Sports: “We were watching the cup goal two or three years ago, where he (Tsimikas) passed it to me.
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“On the touchline I said, ‘Come on now, recreate your assist, take the corner.’ It was one of those times where everything went well.
“Like I said, I'm not happy because we could have won. (Sels) made two great saves. You want to do better, but he was good too. It's one more point, but we wanted three.”
Reds boss Slot was unwilling to take much credit for the impact of Tsimikas and Jota, suggesting the instantaneous results had an element of luck.
Slot said: “You have to be a bit lucky with that (substitutions). We removed Ibou (Konate) at that moment, who is normally a big threat from set pieces, but we all know Jota can score a goal and Tsmikas has a good move.” delivery.
“We brought them in to score a goal, but they really did it after 20 seconds.”
As well as scoring, Jota's three shots on goal were more than any other Liverpool player, despite not coming into action until the 66th minute.
The goal turned out to be the last goal of the match, and neither team could find a winner in the remaining 24 minutes.
As a result, Liverpool maintain their six-point lead over Forest at the top of the table and still have a game in hand.
Meanwhile, the Reds are seven points ahead of Arsenal and ten ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Asked if he considers Forest a title contender, Slot added: “I already said that after 20 games you can judge the table much better than in the first five, six, seven, eight, nine or 10 games and if you are up there with us and the other teams… and I don't think they're here luckily.
“It is very hard and difficult for all teams to play against them. They've had some tough away games already, with United away, (Manchester) City away, Arsenal away, us away, playing us twice.
“So, that shows that they are a team that can compete for the top of the league standings.
“I also think, but you have to tell me if I'm right, that they have had most of their players available so far for the entire season so I see almost the same lineup, and that is a quality of the coaching staff. which they also have.
“But if they can keep bringing the same players onto the field, I don't see any reason for them to lose a lot of points.”
Liverpool travel to Brentford on Saturday, while Forest host Southampton on Sunday.
