Alexander Isak's Brace Sparks Liverpool Victory Over Ipswich
Three minutes. That was all Alexander Isak needed to jolt a faltering Liverpool start to life and remind everyone why the club spent £125m to prise him from Newcastle.
Under the lights at Portman Road, with the noise high and the scrutiny higher, the Sweden striker finally cut loose in a Liverpool shirt. Two goals in three first-half minutes, his first brace for the club, his fifth and sixth Premier League strikes since that record-equalling move. Andoni Iraola, still finding his feet in the Anfield dugout, suddenly had the kind of routine league win managers crave at the start of a tenure.
“With Alex, if he is fit, if he is available, if he is in good shape, I think he will produce the numbers,” Iraola said afterwards. On this evidence, the equation looks simple enough.
Gakpo pulls the strings
All the pre-match noise revolved around Bradley Barcola, the £125m headline act finally ready for a proper debut in red after a disrupted summer with PSG and France. Instead, it was Cody Gakpo who quietly owned the stage.
The Dutch forward has started this campaign like a man intent on ending any debate about his place in Iraola’s pecking order. A goal on the opening weekend against Newcastle, an assist against Nottingham Forest, and here he became the double architect of Isak’s brace.
The opener, on six minutes, came from a perfectly weighted, threaded pass that split a ragged Ipswich back line and left Isak bearing down on goal. The finish was sharp at the near post, though Ipswich keeper Kjell Scherpen will feel he should have done better.
Barely had the home crowd processed the damage when Liverpool struck again. Gakpo, this time, shaped his body and whipped an outside-of-the-boot ball in behind. Isak, buoyed by the first, chopped inside, then out, and slid his shot past Daniel Iversen with his left foot. Iraola spun away in delight on the touchline. In the away end, the chant was instant: “Isak again ole ole.”
Gakpo’s influence didn’t end there. He later moved into the No 9 role for the final half-hour, another sign of Iraola’s trust in his versatility. All this a week after an £80m move to Manchester City appeared to be edging towards reality.
“I had no doubt with Cody,” Iraola insisted. “He has been very good all the pre-season, has started the season very well, producing numbers. I think Cody knows how much we value him. I rate him very highly.”
The coach picked out one trait in particular: Gakpo’s refusal to settle for safe passes.
“This is part of the process; we want to risk,” Iraola said. “When we recover the ball, look forward. It’s the moment you can find some spaces between the defenders and we can give the No 9 chances. If we play ‘safety passes’, the chance won’t be there.”
Florian Wirtz, watching his own role evolve in this system, will have heard that message loud and clear.
Iraola’s first landmark – and a familiar omen
Portman Road has become an unlikely staging post for new Liverpool eras. Two years ago, Arne Slot collected his first win as Liverpool manager here, a 2-0 success that quietly set the tone for a title-winning season, only the club’s second league crown in 35 years.
Nobody inside the ground on Friday will seriously claim this performance heralds a repeat. Slot’s side opened that campaign with 11 wins from 13. Iraola’s Liverpool have lurched through their first two matches, falling behind in both. This, though, felt like a line in the sand: a clean sheet, control, and his leading striker finally in the goals.
It also extended a small but significant piece of history. Liverpool have only once gone seven Premier League games without a win, 24 years ago. That unwanted echo never came close to resurfacing here.
Ipswich unravel as gaps open
For Ipswich, this was a jarring bump back to reality. Gary O’Neil’s side had beaten Sunderland on the opening weekend and looked composed for 40 minutes at Old Trafford last Sunday. Against Liverpool, they were chaotic.
Helter-skelter at the back, blunt in the final third, Ipswich never truly recovered from the early one-two. The home side’s 18-game unbeaten league run at Portman Road ended not with fury, but with a kind of resigned whimper.
Their defence received little protection. The space in front of the back four, usually clogged and combative, yawned open. Dominik Szoboszlai and Wirtz streamed into it repeatedly, taking turns to let fly from distance. Both had multiple sights of goal; both will be irritated they left without a goal to their name.
Ronald Araujo, on loan from Barcelona, came in at right back ahead of the much-maligned Jeremie Frimpong, while Barcola remained on the bench after missing PSG’s entire pre-season. Even so, Liverpool’s high press – Iraola’s calling card – bit hard early on. Where they had wobbled in previous games when conceding first, there were no such early nerves this time.
Ipswich did carve out flickers of hope. Once they broke the press, there were gaps to exploit. Araujo had to intervene smartly to cut out a cross from Julio Enciso that seemed destined for a tap-in. Abdul Fatawu repeatedly beat Milos Kerkez down the right but wasted his openings with wayward finishing. Those half-chances never grew into anything more.
Missed chances and a new star’s first steps
If there was a criticism of Liverpool, it was that the scoreline did not reflect their superiority by half-time. Szoboszlai stung Iversen’s palms more than once. Isak had the chance to complete a first Liverpool hat-trick but drifted needlessly offside as he attacked a Wirtz cross.
The pattern barely changed after the break. Alexis MacAllister should have killed the contest with a free header straight at Iversen. Szoboszlai briefly thought he had earned a penalty after a tug from Leif Davis, only for VAR to rule him offside in the build-up.
Then came the moment many had travelled to see. On 63 minutes, with a hat-trick still there for the taking, Iraola called Isak to the touchline. The decision raised eyebrows in the away end, but the confusion lasted seconds. Barcola stepped forward, stripped and ready, to a roar from the Liverpool supporters.
His first outing in English football was brief but eye-catching. A couple of sharp turns, a blur of feet, and one explosive burst in behind hinted at the damage he could inflict on right-backs across the division once fully up to speed. After a summer without a proper pre-season, this was a first step, not a statement. It still felt significant.
A crowded attack – and a clear demand
The immediate puzzle for Iraola lies not in coaxing quality from his forwards, but in fitting them all on the pitch. Gakpo has been devastating from the left. Barcola was signed to play there. Victor Munoz impressed again on the right. Rio Ngumoha waits in the wings.
These are the selection headaches managers relish. What Iraola cannot compromise on is the principle he hammered home: risk, verticality, aggression the moment Liverpool win the ball. No more safety-first recycling. No more letting defences reset.
If Isak, Barcola and Wirtz all catch fire under those demands, this comfortable away win in East Anglia may be remembered as more than just a routine August victory. It might be the night Liverpool’s most expensive project finally sparked.
