Andoni Iraola has taken aim at the way the game is being officiated.
Liverpool Manager Andoni Iraola
Liverpool Manager Andoni Iraola
Andoni Iraola has taken aim at the way the game is being officiated, after a first half penalty claim was waved away during Liverpool’s defeat by a single goal to Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday.
Kai Havertz’s 16th minute finish from Declan Rice’s low cross proved enough for the champions, who claimed their first league win at Anfield in 14 years and moved three points clear of Manchester City at the summit, leaving Liverpool nine points adrift in fifth.
The flashpoint arrived with the hosts already trailing, when Jurrien Timber pulled at Alexander Isak’s shirt as the striker tried to attack a header inside the area, and neither referee Andy Madley nor VAR intervened, a decision Jamie Carragher criticised on Sky Sports.
The Liverpool head coach was in no doubt about the call when he spoke after the game, and suggested Isak had effectively been punished for staying on his feet.
“The Isak one is a clear penalty… because he doesn’t go on the floor, you’re not going to give it?” he said.
“That’s the problem we have with the game.”
“The fact you are asking me this…”
Those comments echo the frustration of captain Virgil van Dijk, who also called it a clear penalty and questioned how the incident could be missed with so many cameras inside the stadium.
The numbers will trouble Iraola too, because according to Sky Sports, Liverpool had 17 attempts without landing a single one on target, the first time on record they have failed to do so in a home game, meaning David Raya was not forced into a save.
The Spaniard preferred to focus on the quality of the openings rather than the end product, explaining, “We had big chances.”
“Cross bar, real big chances.”
“We should have scored, and had enough to score today.”
Florian Wirtz came closest when his free kick struck the crossbar, while Alexis Mac Allister headed over unmarked, but Gary Neville described Arsenal’s display as a defensive masterclass, and the visitors now have six clean sheets from nine league games.
Iraola did take encouragement from his side’s response, adding, “I liked the attitude of the team, the reaction after we conceded.”
“We had enough chances…”
Attitude alone will not be enough for long, with Liverpool having scored just four league goals in five Anfield outings this season, and Sunday’s result also brought an end to a five match winning run in all competitions.
There is little time to regroup either, with a Champions League trip to Dirk Kuyt’s Fenerbahçe on Wednesday followed by a visit to Crystal Palace next Sunday, as Iraola searches for a response before the gap at the top grows any wider.
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