Brazil team-mates Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino rose from the bench to score as Liverpool hit back to win 2-1 at Stoke City in the Premier League on Saturday.
Jonathan Walters’s header — his seventh league goal against Liverpool — from Xherdan Shaqiri’s cross put Stoke 1-0 up shortly before half-time at the Bet365 Stadium.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp sent on his Brazilian pair at the interval, teenagers Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ben Woodburn making way, and they turned the game on its head.
Coutinho equalised with 20 minutes to play before, two minutes later, Georginio Wijnaldum released Firmino to slam a stunning winner home from just outside the box.
Victory kept Liverpool in third place, two points above fourth-place Manchester City having played a game more.
Mark Hughes’s Stoke sit 14th, eight points above the relegation zone, after their fourth straight defeat.
There was a big surprise before kick-off with the news that Coutinho and Firmino were on the bench. Coutinho had been ill and Firmino was rested due to fatigue.
It left Liverpool looking dangerously short of attacking options, with seven-goal Adam Lallana and 13-goal top scorer Sadio Mane out injured.
The home side made the better start, Shaqiri seeing a goal ruled out for offside, but were forced into a change in the 27th minute when former Liverpool man Joe Allen was forced off.
The Welshman appeared to injure his ankle in a challenge with Wijnaldum and was replaced by Charlie Adam.
Stoke forced the next chance, a low 20-yard drive from Marco Arnautovic that Simon Mignolet gathered at the second attempt, and the Austrian then slashed a volley into the side-netting.
Liverpool looked anonymous going forward and their first serious effort came four minutes before the break when Divock Origi sent a tame header well over the bar from James Milner’s corner.
The Reds could have had a penalty when 17-year-old Woodburn –- on his full Premier League debut — went down under a challenge from Erik Pieters just inside the box.
But referee Mike Dean waved play on and Stoke took the lead soon after.
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