Iraola fumes over VAR penalty call despite Liverpool's 3-1 win at Crystal Palace

Andoni Iraola was left seething over a VAR-confirmed penalty decision that denied Liverpool a clean sheet in their 3-1 Premier League win at Crystal Palace on Sunday, with the Reds heading into the international break fourth in the table.

Goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak had put the game to bed before Eddie Nketiah converted from the spot deep into injury time. The penalty was awarded after referee Tony Harrington penalised Milos Kerkez following a clash of heads with Dario Osorio inside the box — a decision upheld by VAR Michael Salisbury after a lengthy review.

Iraola, who was similarly incensed last weekend when Isak was not awarded a penalty in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal despite an apparent shirt-pull by Jurrien Timber, made no attempt to hide his frustration after the final whistle.

“I am very upset because the ones in our box they are calling penalties and in the other box they are not,” he told reporters. “I know we are 3-0 and it’s the 95th minute but I’m very upset.”

The Liverpool boss took particular issue with the time VAR spent reviewing the incident, suggesting officials were searching for a reason to overturn the on-field call rather than confirm it. “The VAR took a lot of time. When you call a penalty and they are two minutes, two repetitions, three repetitions, they are finding a way not to be called by the VAR. A clean sheet is not cheap in the Premier League and we wanted to win 3-0. It is not just because of this penalty, it’s because of a lot of things.”

Before the late drama, Liverpool had been largely comfortable. Mac Allister opened the scoring with a flicked near-post header before Wirtz tucked in Bradley Barcola’s cutback to double the advantage. Isak, who has now scored seven Premier League goals in nine appearances, finished coolly to make the points safe and put the result beyond doubt.

Despite his frustration, Iraola acknowledged the broader importance of the result, particularly given the fixture congestion preceding it. “It was an important win for us going into the international break after the week we’ve had. We arrived very late Thursday night from Turkey so it was important to finish with a win.”

Liverpool’s fifth league clean sheet of the season ultimately eluded them, but three points at Selhurst Park keeps them firmly in the top-four picture ahead of the break.