- Published44 minutes ago
Andoni Iraola has said he will tell his players to go down in future after Liverpool were denied a penalty in Sunday's defeat byArsenal.
With Liverpool trailing 1-0 after Kai Havertz's opener, Alexander Isak's shirt was pulled by Jurrien Timber in the first half as he went for a header from Bradley Barcola's cross.
However, the Liverpool striker stayed on his feet and referee Andy Madley did not point to the spot.
Stuart Attwell, on VAR duty, determined that there was not enough in the tug for the decision to be overturned, but Iraola disagreed.
"There is a clear grab of the shirt," the Spaniard told Match of the Day. "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."
On what the answer is going forward, Iraola added: "The answer is you have to dive. If you don't dive they won't call it."
The understanding is that because there was minimal contact and it was a slight tug on the shirt, rather than a sustained holding offence, the play was allowed to continue.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said the decision came at a pivotal point in the game.
"Arsenal got lucky," he told Match of the Day. "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."
