Iraola says he will instruct his Liverpool players to ‘go down’ in future after Isak is denied penalty

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has vowed to tell his players to "go down" during future matches following a denied penalty against Arsenal. The match saw Arsenal secure their first Premier League win at Anfield in 14 years, but Iraola believes his side should have been awarded a penalty in the first half when Alexander Isak was tripped.

"The Isak one is a clear penalty," Iraola insisted. "He's going to head the ball in front of the goal. They grab him where everyone sees the shirt. You don’t need a lot just to affect Alex because the ball goes just in front of him." He added that the decision not to award a penalty was likely due to Isak's reluctance to dive or go to the ground, rather than the nature of the foul itself.

Iraola further stated that after a Gakpo incident, he believed it was a sustained holding. However, he acknowledged Arsenal's argument that the ball was too long for Cody to reach, but pointed out that using this logic would mean accepting the first penalty call as legitimate. He emphasized that if his team doesn't dive, they won't receive the benefit of the doubt on such calls.