Iraola: Liverpool punished for overplaying at Newcastle, but late Szoboszlai penalty earns deserved 2-2 draw | OneFootball

Andoni Iraola has said Liverpool were punished for overplaying against Newcastle United but insisted his team deserved a result.

Liverpool scored a 99th-minute equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw at St James' Park, asDominik Szoboszlai's emphatic penalty rescued a result.

The Reds had twice trailed on Tyneside, with Iraola's side second best for much of the contest in a disappointing performance.

Anthony Elanga rifled the home side in front after just five minutes, as the Swede concluded an electric counter-attack to fire past Alisson.

Liverpool levelled on 55 minutes through Cody Gakpo, with the Dutchman drilling in a fine effort, only for the Reds to be undone again moments later. Two minutes after the restart, Joe Willock curled an effort into the far corner after great work from Yoane Wissa.

Liverpool looked set to suffer defeat on thePremier League's opening weekend, until Victor Munoz went down under a challenge from Lewis Hall. The referee awarded the visitors a penalty, with Szoboszlai's super strike securing the visitors a draw.

Iraola believes Liverpool merited a result despite a below-par performance and praised the injection of energy from his substitutes at St James'.

“I don't think we deserve to lose” — Iraola hails subs’ “energy” as Szoboszlai’s 99th-minute pen saves Liverpool at Newcastle

"I don't think we deserve to lose the game today and I value the effort from the players," he said toSky Sports.

"I haven't looked at the stats, but I'm sure we will have more chances, more everything.

"I think we were arriving, probably in the first half, we were not finishing anything.

"We were having a lot of balls on the edge and we were trying to overplay a little bit. And we had just to shoot, shoot, even the first ball we got it.

"I think the players coming from the bench gave us energy. I don't know if they played better, worse, but they gave us energy. And you can feel the way we want to play, everyone is not going to last 90 minutes. So we need this energy from the ones coming from the bench and I think today it happened."