Iraola joins Gerrard and Warnock in questioning delay to Liverpool substitutions

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola and former Reds players Steven Gerrard and Stephen Warnock criticised the officials after a delay to three Liverpool substitutions appeared to disrupt the team’s plans shortly before Nottingham Forest were awarded a penalty in a 2-2 draw.

Liverpool were preparing to make the triple change only minutes before the visitors scored their second goal from the spot in Saturday’s Premier League meeting. The handling of the substitutions left Iraola and the former Liverpool and England players questioning the officials’ decision-making.

The match ended level after Liverpool rescued a point late on, with Victor Munoz scoring his first goal for the club eight minutes before the final whistle.

Gerrard, Liverpool’s former captain, said there could be no serious objection to the penalty itself but understood Iraola’s frustration over the delay in allowing the substitutions to take place.

“You can understand the frustration – in this day and age, and with all this technology, it cannot take three minutes to make a triple substitution,” Gerrard told TNT Sports.

However, he felt the disputed delay was secondary to Liverpool’s failure to prevent the goal.

“But I think it is a small problem within the bigger problem because it is an avoidable goal,” he added.

Warnock, who previously played for Liverpool and England, agreed with his former team-mate and focused on the role of the assistant referee during the incident.

“Andoni Iraola wanted to make three changes, but the assistant referee did not do it,” Warnock told BBC Sport.

“That would have stopped the game completely. It is horrific from the fourth official.”

The criticism centred on the time taken to process Liverpool’s three planned substitutions. Iraola was left frustrated that the changes were not completed before the match continued, with Nottingham Forest then moving forward and earning the penalty that put them in front for the second time.

Liverpool ultimately avoided defeat when Munoz found the net late in the game. The goal was his first for the club and came with eight minutes remaining, ensuring the second-round Premier League fixture finished 2-2.

Gerrard’s comments indicated that, while he sympathised with the Liverpool manager’s anger, he did not regard the substitution delay as the main reason the Reds conceded. In his view, the greater concern was that Liverpool allowed a preventable goal to decide the contest.

Warnock was more severe in his assessment of the officiating, describing the failure to carry out the requested changes as “horrific from the fourth official”. Both former players nevertheless contributed to the debate over a match in which the officials’ handling of the substitutions became a major talking point alongside the two penalty-box incidents and Munoz’s late equaliser.