LONDON — Andoni Iraola questioned the decision to overturn a penalty awarded to Liverpool in the first half of their 2-1 win at Brentford and shared injury concerns over Dominic Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong after both were forced off.
Liverpool became the first team to defeat Brentford this season, with Keith Andrews’ side finishing with nine men.
Brentford took the lead 44 minutes in through Keane Lewis-Potter, but the hosts finished the first half with 10 men after Yehor Yarmoliuk was sent off for a headbutt on Jérémy Jacquet.
Iraola’s side made the numerical advantage count in the second half as Víctor Muñoz scored a wonderful equaliser with Bradley Barcola teeing up Alexander Isak for Liverpool’s winner.
Brentford had a further player sent off when Vitaly Janelt was issued a second yellow card in the 92nd minute.
Overall Iraola was delighted with the win, but questioned a decision from the VAR to overturn a first half penalty. The referee awarded a penalty to Liverpool after Alexis Mac Allister was brought down by Dango Ouattara in the Brentford box, but the decision was overturned after Ouattara was seen to have made contact with the ball first.
“They’re a very good team so to finish with three points here is really valuable,” Iroala said. “The penalty situation — I don’t think it was a penalty. I don’t think VAR should intervene as there was clear touch after.
“I remember Nottingham Forest earlier in the season — it was a very similar situation where they said we are not going to intervene because there is contact. I think Dango arrived to touch the ball — but the way they explained it after Forest is exactly that one and I don’t think the VAR should intervene.
“We played very well against 10 men the minutes up until 2-1. We were patient, finding good positions. Probably more disappointed after we scored to make it 2-1 as then we felt like we have something to lose. [Until then] We were playing freely, we were finding good spots, we were sending a lot of players forward. But at 2-1, then we missed clear chances now to finish the game.”
Iraola was delighted with the positions Barcola found himself in and was pleased with Florian Wirtz as well as Rio Ngumoha who made an impact off the bench.
“I think especially, I think the second half is the situation that if you need a player there you need Flo, no? It’s like Rio is very similar: very few spaces, small pockets, time on the ball, something delicate things you have to find,” Iraola said. “Players like Flo, Rio, Victor [Muñoz] was lovely — they can make the difference.”
But the win came at a cost. Szoboszlai was forced off in the first half, while Frimpong was introduced from the bench at half time, but lasted just five minutes before limping off injured.
“We have a very delicate situation,” Iraola said. “We came from playing Champions League late at night and probably not a proper chance of recovery. You have doubt between players who have started two games and tired, or players recovering from injuries and not sure.
“Dominic felt the same injuries, not a new injury, so [it had] probably not healed enough. Jeremie injury is new. I thought playing against 10 he’d give us more heading forward. But it will mean we will lose Dom and Jeremie for some time.”
For Andrews, he was pleased with how Brentford took the initiative when it was 11 versus 11, but admitted the red card changed things.
“There’s a lot that went on in the game, obviously. We were edging it — we were getting into a good rhythm — starting to play with more belief and speed, thought and actions,” Andrews said. “And we got ourselves in front. I felt confident — the bench was strong and we were going to be able to make. But the sending off changes the dynamic of the game and we gave them an advantage.”
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On Yarmoliuk’s red card, Andrews said: “He’s clearly disappointed. He’s an amazing young man. We need to remember he is young and someone we love working with and want to try and develop. We need to look at ourselves first — we don’t tend to look at what part they play in the incident. I think they were cute and clever — Yarmo needs to do better, and I can understand why that was a red.
“I’ve seen both of Vitaly’s yellows back. I like our players playing with emotion and I like us to play on the edge and when you do that and you feel that some decisions aren’t fair, that can be difficult for the players.
“Our players aren’t robots. We have a spirit in our team that’s really special. Could there have been a bit more consistency, perhaps.”
On why he thought Liverpool were “cute and clever”, Andrews answered: “If you look at where Jacquet is walking, he’s not looking at the ball. He’s walking into Yarmo. But we focus on us and our actions.”
