Iraola criticises officials after Isak penalty denied in Arsenal win at Anfield
Andoni Iraola criticised match officiating after Alexander Isak was denied a penalty during Arsenal’s first win at Anfield for 14 years in the Premier League on 1 November 2026. He said he will instruct Liverpool players to go down in future because, he argued, fouls are not being awarded unless players fall.
Liverpool were beaten by Kai Havertz’s early strike after a poor clearance from the goalkeeper Alisson, and referee Andy Madley dismissed two penalty claims. The first involved a shirt-pull by Arsenal defender Jurriën Timber on Isak that prevented him reaching Bradley Barcola’s cross; the second was a hold by Christos Tzolis on Cody Gakpo that was reviewed by the video assistant referee Stuart Attwell and rejected. Isak stood his ground when held by Timber and Iraola said that counted against his team.
Asked whether Isak should have collapsed in the area, Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola replied: “It’s a shame you ask me this question but, honestly, yes, we have to tell them to go down because they’re not going to call it otherwise. “And then referees complain why they go down. Because if you don’t go down, you don’t call it. I think Alex is honest. He tries to go for the ball, everyone can see live straight away there is a clear, clear pull.”
Iraola said he accepted the reasoning for the Gakpo claim but saw inconsistency in the two decisions, adding: “I think there are two situations and they are a bit related.” He continued: “The Isak one is a clear penalty. He is going to head the ball in front of the goal and they grab him where everyone sees the shirt. The ball just goes in front of Alex and I don’t see the reason why [it isn’t given]. “Probably because he doesn’t dive or he doesn’t go to the floor. It shouldn’t be a reason not to concede a penalty. The Gakpo one, I think it’s a sustained holding but I understand their argument and I think they are right when they say the ball was too long in the air and Cody wouldn’t have arrived to the ball. “But then you’re basically accepting that the first one is a penalty, no? You cannot use the argument in both ways differently.”
Mikel Arteta, who said he had not seen the Isak incident, praised his team’s reaction after their Carabao Cup exit at Fleetwood in midweek and called the Anfield result his first win there in charge. He said: “It feels better as a manager [to win at Anfield] because it has been such a long time without this feeling. I am extremely proud, especially given the conditions we arrived to the game. “The defeat against Fleetwood looks like the end of the world but then you have to pick yourself up. That is the beautiful part of this game. Four days later you have to come to Anfield, and play against this manager, this team who are in a good moment, and so I am so proud of what my team has done.”
Arsenal have now won at four grounds where they did not win when securing the title last season — Anfield, Villa Park, the Stadium of Light and the City Ground. On that run Arteta said: “This is a mission we didn’t complete for 14 years. “There were reasons for that. Some were psychological, some were related to the quality we showed on the pitch, and some were decisions. We knew we had to nail all of them. We knew we would have to navigate periods where we had to suffer.”
When informed that his team had denied Liverpool a shot on target in a Premier League game for the first time in 16 years, Arteta said: “I didn’t know about that stat but that is incredible. It didn’t feel like that at the time, they are a team that shoots a lot so you have to be good at denying them space and blocking shots. To do that against this team is remarkable, I would say.”
