Alexander Isak says he should not need to dive after Arsenal penalty controversy

Alexander Isak believes players should not have to exaggerate contact to win penalties after Liverpool were denied a spot-kick against Arsenal.

The striker has explained why he kept trying to score when Jurrien Timber pulled his shirt during the 1-0 defeat at Anfield on 1 November.

The incident came in the 21st minute, five minutes after Kai Havertz had put Arsenal ahead. Timber pulled Isak’s shirt as he went to head a cross from Bradley Barcola. Referee Andy Madley waved play on, and the VAR, Stuart Attwell, did not intervene.

This week the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel said both calls were wrong, as we reported in our piece on the panel’s Isak penalty ruling. The panel backed a penalty by four votes to one. Whether VAR should have intervened was more contentious, with a narrower three-to-two majority supporting an on-field review.

What Isak said about the Timber pull

Isak spoke to the Swedish outlet Aftonbladet, and his comments have been translated from Swedish by the Liverpool Echo. He said he did not feel the full force of the pull at the time.

“Looking back, I suppose it does look that way,” he said. “But when you’re in the moment, you don’t always perceive exactly what’s happening. I could feel myself being pulled a bit, but not to the extent that it appears later on.”

That fits with what happened on the pitch. Isak did not protest to the officials, and he explained why he stayed on his feet. “I was focused on scoring. It’s hard to try to score and then fall down at the same time,” he said.

Isak rejects Iraola’s call to go down

After the game, Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola told the BBC: “The answer is you have to dive. If you don’t dive they are not going to call it.” When asked by Sky Sports whether he would tell his players to go down in future, he answered: “Yes, definitely.”

Isak does not agree. “I don’t think there’s any need to embellish or go down on purpose,” he said. “Sure, if I’d had a better read on the situation, I might have made sure the referee noticed it, but I don’t believe you need to dive or exaggerate in situations like this.”

His final point was about VAR. “Perhaps it shouldn’t even matter that much, given that we have VAR and systems in place to make the decisive calls in these kinds of moments,” he said.

Why the Alexander Isak penalty case matters

This is the uncomfortable part for referees. Isak did what most people say they want from players: he stayed on his feet and kept trying to score, and he got nothing for it.

Iraola’s comments came from frustration, but they touch on a real problem. If honest players aren’t rewarded, the message to everyone else is that they should go down and make the referee look.

That is why Isak’s point about VAR matters. The system is there to catch clear fouls that a referee misses in real time. The panel agreed this was a foul, even if it was more divided on whether VAR should have stepped in.

For Liverpool, the ruling changes nothing in the table. The 1-0 defeat stands and the points are gone.

What comes next for Liverpool

Liverpool’s next Premier League game is a big one. Mauricio Pochettino’s first match in charge of Manchester United is at Anfield on Sunday 22 November, with a 4.30pm kick-off. For more on the new United era, read about when Pochettino starts, and follow the rest of the action on our Premier League hub.