Andoni Iraola voiced his frustration at a technical mishap involving the fourth official's substitution board, which he believes contributed to Nottingham Forest's late penalty during a 2-2 draw at Anfield on Saturday.
The result marked Iraola's first home match in charge of Liverpool, and his side twice had to fight back from behind to avoid defeat against Oliver Glasner's Forest.
Dan Ndoye put the visitors ahead before Alexander Isak leveled the score around the hour mark. Just ten minutes later, Forest regained the lead when Morgan Gibbs-White converted a penalty, awarded after Neco Williams was caught by goalkeeper Alisson inside the box following a rapid throw-in from Liam Delap.
What drew Iraola's ire afterward, however, was not solely the penalty decision itself but the sequence of events that led up to it. The Liverpool boss revealed that he had attempted to make a triple substitution — bringing on Ryan Gravenberch, Kostas Tsimikas and Rio Ngumoha — during multiple stoppages before the penalty was awarded, but fourth official Tim Robinson experienced difficulties preparing his board.
According to Iraola, the ball had gone out of play on three separate occasions without the changes being processed. On the third occasion, rather than the game pausing for substitutions, Forest opted to take a quick throw-in, a passage of play that directly led to the penalty being awarded to Gibbs-White.
"I will analyse the penalty, but a professional fourth official cannot take three minutes [to make subs]," Iraola told TNT Sports. "We've already given the subs like two or three minutes before. I was already angry because in the previous stop [in play], we couldn't make it. And before the throw-in [which Forest got the penalty from], I said, 'Okay, we'll do now'. I don't know. They will have to explain it, but it has taken ages to prepare the subs."
Speaking separately to the BBC, the Spaniard elaborated on the issue: "He was having an issue with the board, I don't know if it was not working, but we definitely wanted to do the subs the last two or three stoppages before the goal. It wasn't just that reason [for the penalty] but everything helps."
On the penalty decision itself, Iraola offered a measured view, suggesting the passage of play had already concluded before contact was made. "With the penalty, the situation has already finished when the contact appears. And it's not an aggressive contact," he said, though he stressed that the delay over substitutions had been the more significant frustration.
The substitutions were eventually completed only after Gibbs-White's spot-kick had found the net, with Tsimikas, Gravenberch and Ngumoha replacing Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gakpo respectively.
Despite the setback, Liverpool salvaged a point thanks to a strike from new signing Victor Munoz, who fired home in the 82nd minute to make it 2-2 and secure a share of the spoils on what was otherwise a frustrating afternoon for the home side.
Liverpool will look to bounce back when they travel to face Ipswich Town on Friday, September 4, in their next Premier League fixture.
Based on reporting from The Independent and BBC Sport.