Andoni Iraola expressed frustration after Liverpool's 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace, despite acknowledging his team is learning to grind out results away from home in the Premier League. The win lifted Liverpool back into the top four and ended a two-match losing streak, while sending Palace to the bottom of the table on Sunday.
Alisson's display earns praise
Iraola singled out goalkeeper Alisson for his outstanding performance at Selhurst Park, which was instrumental in securing the win. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring five minutes before half-time, with Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak adding goals in the second half. Eddie Nketiah's stoppage-time penalty proved to be only a consolation for Palace.
Liverpool remain unbeaten on their travels in the top flight this season, having collected 13 points from a possible 15 in away fixtures. The visitors owed much to several crucial saves from man-of-the-match Alisson, most notably when denying Daichi Kamada and Yeremy Pino in the first half.
"I'm very pleased with Alisson's performance, not just the save in the first half, but the last one at 2-0 the one-v-one against Yeremy Pino as well," remarked Iraola. "He has commanded the box very well and in games here a lot of things are normally happening in the boxes. He has shown the level he has for us."
Frustration over penalty decision
Speaking separately to Sky Sports, Iraola made clear his displeasure with the penalty awarded to Palace. "I am very upset because the ones in our box they are calling penalties and in the other box they are now. I know we are 3-0 and it's the 95th minute but I'm very upset," he said.
"It's a head-to-head, but even then it's (Dario) Osario to Milos (Kerkez). It's a clash of heads. You can say it's 3-0 but, for me, there is more because it is not the first time this season and you compare... I'm really upset."
Iraola added: "The VAR took a lot of time. When you call a penalty and they are two minutes. Two repetitions, three repetitions, they are finding a way not to be called by the VAR. A clean sheet is not cheap in the Premier League and we wanted to win 3-0. It is not just because of this penalty, it's because of a lot of things."
Valuable three points on the road
Despite the frustration, Iraola acknowledged the importance of the three points and believes his side is developing a knack for winning matches away from Anfield. "We needed this win, definitely, especially after the defeat the other day in Turkey. This was another away game and we need to find ways to win in this kind of stadium. I'm very pleased for the three points," he said.
"In the first half the game was quite open, chances for both teams and we had a save from Alisson that is key for us. The first goal was important, to go 1-0 up by half-time. In the second half we defended much better, we controlled much better the game."
Iraola continued: "Overall we are getting good results away from home at difficult stadiums. It was a tough game, especially when it was still 0-0 in the first half. We had good moments from our defensive players. We are very upset with the penalty at the end I would say, it doesn't change anything, it was 3-0, but I'm upset because a clean sheet is expensive and the penalty was a big call."
"We are now more or less one quarter of the season. It's clear we still have room to improve, we need to become a better team. Especially away from home we have been very, very solid. This win helps to get us ready again, because (Manchester) United is the next one and we see ourselves in a better place, but we still need to improve."
