Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola was left fuming after seeing his side’s penalty appeals waved away midway through the first half as striker Alexander Isak saw his shirt pulled by Jurriën Timber in Sunday’s 1–0 defeat to Arsenal.

Shortly after Kai Havertz had tapped his side into a 16th-minute lead, Isak’s attempts to equalize were clearly disrupted by a tug on his jersey from Arsenal defender Timber, with replays capturing his desperate attempts to stop the Sweden international from jumping up for a header.

His efforts were successful as Isak’s leap into the sky fell short of the ball, and that was that. No foul was given and a VAR check of the incident did not lead to a review, leaving Iraola to speculate that Isak had been punished simply for not throwing himself to the ground.

“The Alex Isak one is a clear penalty,” Iraola seethed to Sky Sports. “You hold the t-shirt; we can all see that he holds the t-shirt. The ball just goes one centimeter in front of Alex. Alex is going to hit the ball in front of the goal.”

Asked whether Isak should have gone to ground in search of a penalty, Iraola added: “The fact that you are even asking me that he should have gone to the floor, that’s the thing. If he goes to the floor, they call the penalty for me. They call the penalty 100%.”

Why Were Liverpool Not Awarded a Penalty?

When referee Andy Madley declined to halt play, fans around the world sat in wait of the seemingly inevitable announcement that he was being sent to the pitch-side monitor for a review, with VAR surely set to identify a mistake.

When that did not happen, questions started to be asked.

At this point, the Premier League have not yet announced any explanation as to why the incident was not penalized. While Madley can be forgiven for missing Timber’s pull of the shirt, VAR’s refusal to intervene left many questioning why the system was even introduced, including Virgil van Dijk.

“I think it was a clear penalty,” the Dutch defender said. “I’ve seen it back and I’ve seen it being given. Today it wasn’t meant to be.”

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The overwhelming feeling is that, by declining to fling himself to the ground in search of a penalty, Isak has been harshly ignored. Timber’s tug clearly did not stop Isak from making a genuine attempt to play the ball, even if his chances of successful contact were drastically reduced, and that seems to have been the deciding factor.

It has sparked an uncomfortable debate as to whether players need to go to ground. Clearly, Timber’s contact was not enough to send Isak tumbling, but his honesty and refusal to make more of the incident has worked against him.

“We have 50 cameras. Why does he have to complain when there are so many cameras?” Van Dijk pondered when asked if Isak should have gone down.

“Everyone has seen it. In the end it wasn’t given and we lose the game unfortunately, so well done to Arsenal.”

If Iraola gets his wish, Liverpool will never be on the receiving end of this sort of call again. Asked whether he will tell Isak to flop to the floor next time, the boss simply responded: “Yes, definitely.”