Arne Slot has defended his decision to put on Dan Burn at corners after the towering defender scored in .

at Wembley on Sunday thanks to Burn’s powerful header from ’s floated cross and Alexander Isak’s classy half-volley. Slot threw on five attacking substitutes in the second half and two of them combined as Harvey Elliott set up Federico Chiesa, but his goal in added time was too little too late.

The Magpies were much the better side and deserved their first domestic trophy in 70 years, but their dominance raised questions for . The ease with which 6ft 7in Burn beat his marker – 5ft 9in Mac Allister – to power in the opening goal left many Liverpool fans bemused on social media.

But was quick to point out that Burn’s effort had an expected goals (xG) of just 0.03 and that his zonal marking system – in which Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and the other best headers of the ball guard the six-yard box – has worked well from set pieces in general this season. “Again, credit to Newcastle, but I can explain,” he told reporters in his post-match press conference.

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“We play zonal so we have five players zonally close to our goal, so if the ball falls there it is always one of the five stronger players that are going to attack that ball. And we have three players that man-mark and Macca is one of them.

“Normally a player like Dan Burn or another one runs to the zone because normally… I think he’s an exception to that because I have never seen in my life a player from that far away heading a ball with so much force into the far corner.

“That is part of logic, that they either have to go far away from our zone, which 99 out of 100 times will never lead to a goal, or they have to arrive in our zone and then it’s an equal battle, if you want to call it like this. So credit to him, I think he’s one of the few players that can score a goal from that distance with his head.”

, Slot said: “The game was slow, not intense. The game went exactly the way they wanted, with a lot of duels and a lot through the air and if we play 10 games of football through the air, they win nine times … that is what led to the first goal and the second.

“We were outplayed in their style, that is true. They won more duels. It was a disappointing result, a disappointing performance, completely different to how I felt after the game.

“I want to make it clear that the week started really well by beating , which extended our lead to 12 points. We are in one of the biggest clubs in the but it is not the first time they have lost two games in a row especially if one is when you face the best team in Europe at the moment and the other is a strong team.”

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