Robert Ljubicic came off the bench and immediately changed the mood, firing a lovely finish past Alisson as Wednesday's live Champions League coverage carried on across nine games. The stadium came to life again, and a TV camera caught Virgil van Dijk on the Liverpool bench with a smile on his face.
That goal sat inside a live page that was meant to be tracking Aston Villa Vs Fenerbahçe but spent much of its time on Liverpool, LASK and the wider round. Before Ljubicic scored, Florian Flecker and Robert Ljubicic had replaced Melayro Bogarde and Kasper Jorgensen, a switch that was almost instantly rewarded. One voice on the coverage summed up the moment bluntly: they had barely had time to mention Ljubicic had come on before he finished past Alisson, who was left furious with his defence.
The same live stream also leaned on Jeremie Frimpong, who had just scored his 36th goal in all competitions in club football and his first header in club football. Another line from the broadcast made the point in less polished form, saying that Frimpong heading one in was probably a sign of how the match had gone for LASK. Lucy Ward also pointed to the movement around Liverpool's attack, saying Barcola was enjoying himself and that he and Ngumoha were proving effective together.
That is the awkward truth of live coverage: the headline matchup can sit in one corner, while the goals that define the evening come from somewhere else entirely. The page was following nine Champions League games at once, so the real story kept shifting every time a substitute or a set piece changed the picture.
For now, the most telling detail is not the fixture label but the speed of the swing. Ljubicic's finish gave the coverage its sharpest turn, and Frimpong's first club header added a second one. The live page moved on, but the moment it will be remembered for is the one where the bench player scored before everyone had finished naming him.
