Cape Town - Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare says that the second-half exit of Philippe Coutinho helped his side to a 2-0 League Cup win over Liverpool.
The Brazilian No. 10 starred for the Reds in a goalless first-half at the King Power Stadium, but he was taken off at half-time before Shinji Okazaki and Islam Slimani struck for the Foxes.
"We led a charmed life in the first-half," Shakespeare said. "We know that our goal was under threat.
"I was just delighted to get in at half-time and then even more delighted to see they took Coutinho off. That was one of the main contributions to us for the second half.
"You worry about your own team's performance and we asked them to be more aggressive in the second half. We needed better hold up play from the centre forwards in the second-half.
"We wanted to play on the front foot a bit more. Shinji got his chance due to an injury to Leonardo Ulloa, but I thought that was key moment for us as well.
"You could see the response in terms of Shinji getting in and around people and it was a major factor in contributing to the win."
This was the first of a double-header against the Reds, who return to the King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.