Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips sparked plenty of conversation when he came on in the final moments of their 3-0 victory over West Ham on Wednesday evening.
On a night where City striker Erling Haaland broke the Premier League record for most goals in a campaign with his 35th league strike this season, Pep Guardiola's side went a step closer to winning their third consecutive league title.
Second-half goals from Nathan Ake, Haaland and Phil Foden secured a comfortable victory against the Hammers.
Advert
And with the three points all but wrapped up, Phillips was introduced with minutes remaining.
The 27-year-old has struggled for game time at the Etihad this season following his move from boyhood club Leeds last summer and footage has emerged of the midfielder beaming when replacing Rodri for the latter stages.
The cameo saw Phillips' Premier League appearance tally for the season go up to eight, with the midfielder totalling just 405 minutes across all competitions this term.
Advert
His reaction ignited mixed responses on Twitter.
@rtxvIl tweeted: "I feel really bad for him."
@Twinkegaard tweeted: "Nah this is so sad pep has him in jail."
@ErikTenStan tweeted: "The face of a man who is going to scam a PL medal."
Advert
@Afcade08 tweeted: "this is actually soo sad."
@HolyAceCartier tweeted: "redemption season coming soon."
Guardiola revealed back in December that the England international had returned from the World Cup 'overweight' and 'not in the right condition to train' after surprisingly being omitted from the squad to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.
"He's not injured," the City boss told reporters when asked about Phillips' absence. "He arrived overweight. I don't know [why]. He didn't arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.
Advert
"When he will be ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot."
The excellent form of Rodrigo has undoubtedly been a contributing factor to the midfielder's lack of starts but other factors have clearly contributed to a tough first season in Manchester.
However, parallels could be drawn to the first season of teammate Jack Grealish who struggled to make the desired impact last season but has been excellent for City this campaign.
Advert
Manchester City's victory saw them return to the top of the table, ahead of Arsenal, with Guardiola's men having a one-point lead over the Gunners with five matches to go, although they do boast a game in hand.
Featured Image Credit: TwitterTopics: Kalvin Phillips, Manchester City, Fan Reactions