The Turkish striker stepped up and bent a brilliant strike into the top corner in the 90th minute against West Ham, just three minutes after Lucas Paqueta gave the Hammers a late lead at the Vitality Stadium from the penalty spot.
Unal won the free kick himself and hit it fantastically from 25 yards to secure Bournemouth a point.
Speaking after the game, the Cherries boss explained that he, his staff and Unal’s teammates knew he was capable of scoring from that position.
Iraola said: “I think everyone involved in the team straight away was thinking, okay, is going to be close because he trains a lot and he’s, let’s say, our specialist.
“And the consistency is good. It’s always difficult because it was quite far also.
“But I think everyone felt that, okay, this is going to be, if it’s not a goal, it’s going to get close, I think.”
(Image: Richard Crease) On the game as a whole, Iraola felt that his side were the better side in the second half and were pressing for the winner, before the Hammers were given the penalty late on.
His side had 29 shots on goal as they peppered the Hammers net, but weren’t able to find the breakthrough, before Unal’s stunning strike.
Iraola said: “I think overall the second half has been good from our side.
“I haven’t especially liked the first half.
“The rhythm of the game has been quite low in the first half. Even without playing well, we had, I think, the two more clear chances, from Antoine [Semenyo] and from Dango [Ouattara] especially.
(Image: Richard Crease) “But I think I’m much more happy with the performance in the second half.
“Not only how we ended scoring, obviously, but overall, I think we were the team that was pushing for the win today.”
