In the battle of tactical wits between childhood teammates Iraola and Mikel Arteta, it was the Bournemouth boss who had the edge on Saturday.
Arsenal struggled with the Cherries intensity, and were forced backwards by the visitors, with Alex Scott and Ryan Christie about to get a big element of control in midfield.
Read more:
The forward line of Marcus Tavernier, Rayan, Evanilson and Junior Kroupi were relentless in the press, with the latter producing arguably his best performance in the number ten role for his off-the-ball work.
Iraola beat fellow Basque native Mikel Arteta on Saturday (Image: Richard Crease)
The Cherries winner came as Bournemouth forced the hosts to go long from the back, Kroupi half charged down a clearance and then the visitors worked it well and quickly to see Scott slipped through to score.
Manchester City saw success against the Gunners in the League Cup final with a similar approach, but this is the way that Bournemouth play, and it was at its best on Saturday.
Asked if Iraola had sought to be aggressive in their press to unsettle Arsenal with a tense home crowd, the boss said: “No, I think it's the way we play.
“Some teams give us the chance to press them, some teams they just go direct and we cannot use this strength that I think we have.
Andoni Iraola. (Image: Richard Crease)
“We wanted to keep the advantage at the back but also allow them to kind of— it's a cat and mouse thing. You can play, but we will go, but then if you go direct— and it's this kind of play that teams like we played recently, United or Arsenal or big clubs that they obviously want the ball, they give you these chances.
“Sometimes you arrive a little bit late and they go through your press and then you have to defend a three against three and it's big risk, big reward, but these are situations where the way we play, we have to accept.”