Iraola rues ‘cheap, messy goals’ in Liverpool’s Fenerbahçe defeat

Liverpool lost 3-2 at Fenerbahçe on Wednesday, ending their unbeaten start in the Champions League. Head coach Andoni Iraola blamed poor defending of set pieces and called the goals cheap and messy in his post-match press conference, according to ESPN. Trey Nyoni, who scored his first goal for the club, and Alexander Isak put Liverpool ahead twice. Mason Greenwood and Archie Brown turned the game around, and Vedat Muriqi grabbed the winner in the 79th minute. Fenerbahçe’s goals came from a free kick that went through the wall, a corner and a long throw; on the last one, Cody Gakpo touched the ball just in front of Alisson. ### Five changes, same problem

Iraola made five changes from Sunday’s loss to Arsenal, with Isak, Florian Wirtz and Gakpo starting on the bench. He said communication inside the stadium was almost impossible, which made it hard to give instructions and to coordinate Gakpo and Alisson. He also defended the rotation, saying they have done it all season and change four or five players every midweek because it is impossible to keep the same starting XI. The defeat hurts more than Sunday’s, as Liverpool had won five games in a row in all competitions. Their record in Türkiye now stands at one win, one draw and seven defeats, and they have still not kept a clean sheet in the country. Set pieces were a weak spot last season, and Liverpool seemed to have fixed that until tonight. Iraola admitted his side had handled those situations well up to now, but this time they cost them the match, and they have to do better.