Andoni Iraola was delighted Liverpool’s beat nine men Brentford this afternoon but left frustrated by VAR.
Second-half goals from Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak gave the Merseysiders all three points at the Gtech Community Stadium after Brentford had gone ahead through Keane Lewis-Potter’s effort a minute before the break.
Yehor Yarmoliuk was sent off in first-half injury time and the Bees also saw Vitaly Janelt dismissed late on.
It was a vital win for Liverpoolwhich allowed them to capitalize on a 6-3 win at LASK in midweek, but Iraola was still fuming over a first-half incident when his side were awarded a penalty but later overruled VAR Darren England, who deemed Dango Outtara to have contracted the ball as well as Alexis Mac Allister.
The Spaniard said: “They are a very good team, so to finish with three points here is very valuable. The penalty situation… I don’t think it was a penalty (but) I don’t think VAR should have intervened because there was a clear touch afterwards.
“I remember Nottingham Forest earlier in the season – it was a very similar situation where they said we wouldn’t intervene because there’s contact. I think Dango got to touch the ball – but the way they explained it after Forest is exactly that and I don’t think VAR should intervene.
“We played really well against 10 men in the minutes until 2-1. We were patient, finding good positions. Probably more disappointed after we scored 2-1 because then we felt like we had something to lose. (Up until then) We were playing freely, we were finding good places, we were sending a lot of players forward. But then we missed the chance to make it 2-1.”
Liverpool’s victory comes at a cost
It wasn’t all good news for Liverpool, however, with Dominik Szoboszlai’s return lasting just 32 minutes before being forced off, while Jeremie Frimpong, a half-time substitute for Ronald Araujo, was withdrawn six minutes later.
“We have a very delicate situation,” Iraola said. “We’ve just played the Champions League late at night and we probably have no chance of recovery. You have doubts between players who have started two games and are tired, or players who are recovering from injuries and we’re not sure.
“Dominik felt the same injuries, not a new injury, so he probably hadn’t healed enough. Jeremie’s injury is new. I thought playing against 10 would give us more going forward. But it will mean we lose Dom and Jeremie for a while.”
Andrews believes the Liverpool man was involved in the red card
Yarmoliuk was sent off for headbutting Jeremy Jacquet, but Bees boss Keith Andrews felt the Frenchman had started the tackle.
“He’s clearly disappointed,” Andrews said. “He’s an amazing young man. We have to remember he’s young and someone we enjoy working with and want to try to develop. We have to look at ourselves first, we don’t tend to look at what role they played in the incident. I think they were nice and smart. Yarmo has to do better, and I can understand why he was red.”
“If you look where Jacquet is walking, he’s not looking at the ball. He’s going into Yarmo. But we focus on us and our actions.”
Andrews felt the red card changed the dynamic of the game, adding: “We were picking it up, we were getting into a good rhythm, starting to play with more belief and speed, thinking and actions. And we got in front. I was confident – the bench was strong and we could do it. But the sending off changes the game for them and we gave them an advantage.”