By Basant El-Faramawy
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said he will instruct his players to go to ground in future after Liverpool were denied a penalty in their 1-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday.
Iraola criticizes refereeing decision
Iraola told Match of the Day that Alexander Isak's shirt was clearly pulled by Jurrien Timber, but the striker stayed on his feet and referee Andy Madley did not award a spot-kick. VAR official Stuart Attwell upheld the decision. Iraola argued that if Isak had gone down, a penalty would have been given 100%. He said managers must tell players to go to the floor, otherwise they won't get the call.
Incident described
The incident occurred in the first half with Liverpool trailing 1-0 after Kai Havertz's goal. Isak was going for a header from Bradley Barcola's cross when Timber tugged his shirt. Isak did not appeal to the referee. Liverpool also had a second penalty appeal waved away when Cody Gakpo went down under pressure from Christos Tzolis.
Pundits weigh in
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said Arsenal got lucky and that Isak should have made more of the contact. Gary Neville called Isak's reaction unnatural for a centre-forward. Former assistant referee Darren Cann said the shirt pull was on the limit and could have been given on another day.
Van Dijk defends Isak
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said Isak did not need to complain because 50 cameras captured the incident. He acknowledged the decision went against Liverpool and congratulated Arsenal.
Iraola stands by stance
In his news conference, Iraola reiterated that he would tell his players to go down, calling it a shame that honesty is not rewarded. He conceded an apology from the refereeing body would not change the outcome.
