Iraola insisted Liverpool matched Man City for about 60 minutes, adding that the tie only changed after Gravenberch was sent off.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has claimed his team were in the Premier League encounter against Manchester City until Ryan Gravenberch was given his marching orders by the referee.
The Spanish tactician made this known during his post-match briefing following the highly anticipated match played at Anfield.
Liverpool suffered a 3-0 thumping at the hands of the league leaders in what was their first Premier League defeat of the season on Sunday evening.
Although the first half ended goalless, the second half became a completely different affair after Gravenberch was shown a second yellow card.
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After his departure, Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku, and Rayan Cherki scored for Man City as they maintained their perfect start to the season.
Speaking to reporters after the loss, Iraola noted that his team’s performance prior to being reduced to 10 men was remarkably different from when they had 11 men on the pitch.
“There were two different games: one until the red card, and then one after,” he said.
The former Bournemouth manager went on to say they matched Man City for about an hour until Gravenberch was sent off by the referee.
Iraola added, “For 60 minutes, the players were very good. The second game from the red card was where City were better than us.”
