Iraola says he will tell players to go down after Liverpool penalty denied

Andoni Iraola said on Sunday after Liverpool's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal at Liverpool that he will tell his players to go to the floor in future after a penalty appeal was not awarded. The match was decided by Kai Havertz's first-half opener.

With Liverpool trailing 1-0 after Havertz's goal, Alexander Isak's shirt was pulled by Jurrien Timber in the first half as he went for a header from Bradley Barcola's cross. Isak stayed on his feet and referee Andy Madley did not point to the spot, while Stuart Attwell, on video assistant referee duty, determined there was not enough in the tug for the decision to be overturned. Isak turned and spoke to Timber after the incident but did not appeal to the referee.

Iraola told Match of the Day: "There is a clear grab of the shirt," adding: "Alex [Isak] was just in front of him, he was going to head in front of the goal but couldn't because he grabbed the shirt. "If he goes to the floor, they call the penalty 100%. It should be like this but it is what it is. Next time, the managers should tell Alex to go to the floor, otherwise they won't call it."

Asked what the answer is going forward, Iraola said: "The answer is you have to dive, if you don't dive they won't call it." He told Sky Sports that managers should tell their players to go to the floor and, when asked if he would tell Isak that, said: "Yes, definitely." In a news conference he said: "It's a shame you ask me this question, but honestly, yes, we have to tell them, 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. Then it's like, no, you are all the time going down," and added: "But I think Alex is honest. He tries to go for the ball, everyone can see live straight away that there is a clear, clear pull." Iraola conceded "it is not going to change anything" if Pro Ref, the Premier League's refereeing body, was to offer an apology about the incident.

The understanding was that because there was minimal contact and it was a slight tug on the shirt, rather than a sustained holding offence, play was allowed to continue. Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann told BBC Sport: "Timber takes a huge risk by grabbing the shirt. It could easily have been given on another day. "It's right on the limit. It has to be sustained holding - some will say it was sustained, some will say it wasn't. But it's interesting that Isak didn't even appeal."

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy told Match of the Day: "I think Arsenal got lucky," adding: "If Isak maybe makes a bit more of it. I hate to see players exaggerate, but he's going to score. It's a big moment in the game "I feel for the referee because it happened so quickly. I thought there was enough for VAR to have another look and give him another look. If he made more of it, maybe they would have given it on-field." Gary Neville said on Sky: "The argument around Isak and whether he should have made more of it, it's unnatural not to make more of it. When you get pulled and you're just about to score a goal, you normally complain like crazy. It'd a very odd reaction from Isak not to react." Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said: "We have 50 cameras. Why does he have to complain when there are so many cameras. Everyone has seen it. In the end it wasn't given and we lose the game unfortunately, so well done to Arsenal."

Liverpool also had another penalty appeal waved away when Cody Gakpo went down in the box under pressure from Christos Tzolis. The match report noted that Liverpool did not have any shots on target against Arsenal.

The 1-0 result left Arsenal three clear at the top.