Andoni Iraola wishes Alexander Isak had done one thing differently in Liverpool defeat
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The story in brief
16-second readAndoni Iraola believes Liverpool would have been awarded a penalty if Alexander Isak had gone to ground after Jurrien Timber pulled his shirt. The incident occurred in the 21st minute of Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at home to Arsenal. Iraola described the incident as a 'clear penalty' and stated that a foul would have been given if Isak had reacted differently.

The full picture
Andoni Iraola believes Liverpool would have been awarded a penalty if Alexander Isak had gone to ground after Jurrien Timber pulled his shirt. The incident occurred in the 21st minute of Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at home to Arsenal. Iraola described the incident as a 'clear penalty' and stated that a foul would have been given if Isak had reacted differently. He expressed this view in an interview with Sky Sports after the match.
Iraola was firm in his conviction, stating that if Isak had gone to the floor, the penalty would have been awarded '100%'. When asked if he would advise Isak to go to ground in a similar situation in the future, Iraola replied 'yes, definitely'. This stance has been reported by Empire of the Kop.
The decision not to award the penalty was significant in the context of the match, as Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal might have unfolded differently if the incident had been called as a foul. The shirt tug by Timber was considered obvious by some commentators, who felt that the VAR officials should have intervened.
At a glance
- Reporting status
- Reported
- Original publisher
- Empire of the Kop ↗
- Source published
- Clubs covered
- Liverpool
Attributed publisher reporting. Kickjolly has not independently confirmed the claim.
Source context
Andoni Iraola is convinced that Liverpool would ‘100%’ have been awarded a penalty on Sunday if Alexander Isak had gone to ground after having his shirt pulled by Jurrien Timber. 1-0 defeat at home to Arsenal, for whom Kai Havertz had scored just five minutes earlier. Neither Andy Madley nor the officials on VAR duty felt that a spot kick was warranted, a decision which was met with unified disagreement from Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Daniel Sturridge on Sky Sports. Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Iraola felt that the incident was a ‘clear penalty’ and believes that a foul would’ve been given had Isak gone down when Timber pulled his shirt.
Source excerpt · Empire of the Kop
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