Diogo Jota admits he was expecting to be substituted shortly before netting the goal that helped drag Liverpool firmly back into the Premier League title race.
Jota opened the scoring on 54 minutes as the Reds closed the gap on leaders Manchester City to one point with an impressive 2-0 win at Arsenal on Wednesday night.
An 18th goal of the season was the last action of the game from the Portuguese, whose replacement Roberto Firmino went on to score the game-clinching second eight minutes later.
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And asked if had known he was about to be hauled off when running on to Thiago Alcantara's pass before firing in at Aaron Ramsdale's near post, Jota said: "To be honest, I saw Mo (Salah) and Bobby on the sidelines. I didn't know it was me but I could expect something like that to happen.
"But it you want to finish a game, nothing better than to score a goal. When you have a player like Thiago in midfield, if you have the right space then you know he can see you and put the ball there, and it was the first time I really had space in the game in the defensive line and I took advantage of it and it was massive for us.
"When teams are really on it like they (Arsenal) were in the first half, reducing all kinds of space with two or three players around, you need to be patient and wait for the moment when they will give you an extra yard of space. I was lucky enough to find the back of the net with the first chance I had."
Liverpool have conceded only two Premier League goals this calendar year with the defence having kept seven shut-outs in their last nine top-flight games, all of which were won.
And Jota added: "It's not easy to come here and get a clean sheet. Everyone worked hard for that, not just the defensive line line but credit to them for that and to Ali (Alisson Becker) who made a couple of important saves. We are together as a group, we have one more game before the break and then we have to attack with everything."
Speaking to LFC TV, Jota was asked if Liverpool would have taken being a point behind City going into the final run-in having been 14 adrift midway through January, albeit with two games in hand.
"Yes, I think so," said the forward. "Back then the gap was much bigger. We have reduced that, it's up to us, nine games and nine finals and I believe we can do it. It's very exciting. We can win those titles, we have pretty much everyone available so we can fight for it."
