Iraola reveals the reasons for the heavy defeat against Manchester City

Following a 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the 6th round of the English Premier League, Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola commented on the controversial decisions that determined the match's fate and assessed his team's performance. The specialist noted that the Merseysiders outperformed their opponent for an hour, but the red card shown by the referee completely ruined their plans.

Dividing the course of the match into two completely different periods, Iraola openly criticized the yellow card given to Ryan Gravenberch.

"The game was split in two": Until the 60th minute and after

The Liverpool coach highlighted the following as the main factors of the defeat:

• Two different paces: "I think everything is obvious: today's clash consisted of two parts. The first part lasted until the 60th minute, and the second began after Gravenberch was sent off," Iraola said;

• Initial advantage on the pitch: "In the first part, we performed better than the opponent, controlled the situations, but then the initiative completely passed to City's side".

Objection to refereeing: Did Gravenberch deserve to be sent off?

The Merseysiders' coach did not hide his dissatisfaction regarding the red card incident in the 62nd minute, which changed the flow of the game:

• "The first yellow card was unfair": "Coming to Gravenberch's dismissal, he absolutely did not deserve the first yellow card. In that situation, Anderson walked freely for a few more steps after the contact. I simply cannot understand why a yellow card was shown in this case," the head coach objected.

Pressure with a man down and quick goals

Iraola explained the condition of the team being left a man down against a high-level opponent like Manchester City as follows:

• Impossibility of pressing: "Even with a full squad, organizing a high press against Manchester City is extremely difficult. When you are left a man down, the game turns in a completely different direction";

• Substitutions didn't make it in time: "We conceded the first goal shortly before the planned substitution. Naturally, with the score at 1-0, the team is forced to take risks and play differently".

After this heavy defeat, dropping to 9th place in the standings with 9 points, regaining lost points in upcoming rounds and restoring team stability will become the top priority for Liverpool.