Iraola fumes at fourth official as substitution delay costs Liverpool against Forest

Andoni Iraola has accused fourth official Tim Robinson of unprofessionalism after a substitution delay contributed to Nottingham Forest’s second goal in a 2-2 Premier League draw at Anfield on Saturday.

Liverpool were attempting a triple substitution in the moments before Morgan Gibbs-White converted a penalty to make it 2-1, but Robinson was unable to get the boards ready in time. Forest capitalised by taking a quick throw-in, catching Liverpool’s unsettled defence off guard. Alisson then dived in on Neco Williams inside the box, conceding the spot-kick that Gibbs-White dispatched to put the visitors ahead.

“A professional fourth official cannot take three minutes for the subs,” Iraola said after the match. “We gave the subs two or three minutes before. I was angry because in the previous stop we couldn’t make it. And before the throw-in I said ‘let’s do it now’, but I don’t know how to explain it but it has taken ages to prepare two boards.”

Alisson was booked for protesting the penalty decision to referee Sam Barrott, and his frustration had not subsided by full time. The goalkeeper was filmed kicking one of the substitution boards, putting a hole through it.

Victor Munoz rescued a point for Liverpool in the 82nd minute, his powerful shot bouncing in off the underside of the crossbar to cancel out Gibbs-White’s penalty. Dan Ndoye had opened the scoring for Forest after Liverpool failed to deal with a long ball, before Alexander Isak equalised with a tap-in from Cody Gakpo’s cross.

Iraola was candid about his side’s first-half display, describing it as “poor” while acknowledging the improvement after the break. “Two very different halves,” he said. “We were much better in the second half. The intensity was different — if you are going to lose, you have to lose like in the second half. A lot more intense, more threatening.”

The result leaves Liverpool with two draws from their opening two Premier League fixtures of the 2026/27 season, having also shared the spoils 2-2 with Newcastle the previous weekend.