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Liverpool's young defender, Amara Nallo, was shown the red card just 12 minutes after being substituted on against Crystal Palace on Wednesday, marking his second dismissal in as many appearances for the club.
The 18-year-old replaced Alexis Mac Allister in the 67th minute during Liverpool's Carabao Cup defeat at Anfield. He received a straight red card in the 79th minute for bringing down Justin Devenny, who was clear on goal, before being consoled by Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
This unfortunate pattern continued for the young defender, who was also sent off early in his only other appearance for Liverpool. His senior debut came in a heavily rotated side that suffered a 3-2 loss to PSV in the Champions League back in January.
That night proved to be one to forget for Nallo, who was only on the pitch for four minutes before being shown a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity to the Dutch side.
This means that Nallo has played just 16 minutes for Liverpool's first team and has been dismissed twice.
Arne Slot, Liverpool's manager, was heartened to see his two senior defenders - Van Dijk and Konate - immediately console Nallo after his dismissal from the pitch.
The Liverpool boss said: "I didn't need to say that much.
"Because another thing which I liked – it's not the most important thing – but Ibou and Virgil immediately went inside to talk to him. So that tells me that they are great human beings in a moment like this, when a young player for the second time is being sent off.
"Maybe the first time after he played against PSV, I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think he did – that they feel how difficult that moment for him is, to go inside and be supportive for him.
"So it wasn't needed that I took care of him. These two already took care of him."
Nallo arrived at Liverpool in August 2023 following his development through West Ham's academy system and has since been a regular fixture for the U21s, though his two first-team chances have both ended disappointingly and will undoubtedly represent a setback.
The teenager wasn't the sole young player given a starting berth against Palace on Wednesday.
Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha were among those who featured in the comprehensive defeat, yet Slot had no second thoughts about his team selection.
"This club has always used this competition for academy players as well," said the Liverpool boss. "It felt to me the right decision and I've not changed my opinion of that because we lost."
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