Isak Shines as Liverpool Secures First Win of the Season

Alexander Isak arrived at Anfield to headlines and scepticism. In Suffolk, he finally answered both.

The Swedish striker delivered his most ruthless display in a Liverpool shirt since that British record £125m move from Newcastle United a year ago, ripping through Ipswich Town with two goals inside nine breathless minutes at Portman Road. By the time the newly promoted side had settled, the contest was effectively gone.

Isak and Gakpo rip it open

Liverpool had failed to score first in either of their opening Premier League draws against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle. That narrative lasted six minutes here.

Cody Gakpo, drifting between the lines, slid a sharp, vertical pass into Isak’s path. One touch, one glance, and the Swede drilled a low finish inside Kjell Scherpen’s near post. Clinical. Cold. Exactly what Liverpool had paid for.

Ipswich barely had time to regroup.

Three minutes later, the same combination cut them apart again. Gakpo picked his moment and fed Isak once more, the forward timing his run and dispatching the chance to double the lead and stun a home crowd that had arrived with optimism and noise. It was already the third time this league campaign that Gakpo has set up Isak, a partnership beginning to look like Liverpool’s new attacking axis.

The early blitz quietened the doubts that had followed Isak into this season. He looked sharper, more aggressive, and far more in tune with those around him from the first whistle.

Iraola off the mark

For Andoni Iraola, the stakes were different but just as real. Two games into his Premier League tenure without a win, he stood on the brink of an unwanted piece of history: the first Liverpool manager since Brendan Rodgers to fail to win any of his opening three league fixtures.

This, then, was a timely statement. The intensity was higher, the structure cleaner, the front line ruthless. By full-time, Iraola had his first win in charge and a performance he can point to as a template.

Backline stands firm

The attacking fireworks will grab the clips, but Liverpool’s defence quietly did the rest of the heavy lifting.

Ipswich’s best spell came around the half-hour mark. A teasing cross to the far post looked destined to be turned in by Daizen Maeda, only for Ronald Araujo, on his full debut, to hurl himself across and produce a crucial last-ditch block. It was a defining moment for the Uruguayan, a piece of defending that preserved the cushion and underlined why Liverpool brought him in.

That intervention snuffed out Ipswich’s flicker of belief. From there, Liverpool managed the game, squeezing space and denying clear chances as the hosts chased a route back.

Hat-trick denied, control maintained

Isak thought he had completed his hat-trick before the break. Florian Wirtz, lively between the lines, drove a low ball across goal, and the striker reacted instinctively to turn it in. The assistant’s flag went up quickly for offside, cutting short the celebrations and denying him the match ball.

The disallowed goal barely altered the pattern. Liverpool stayed in command, the tempo dipping but the control absolute, the visitors moving the ball with the assurance of a side that knew the job was done early.

Barcola’s first steps

There was another glimpse of the club’s new direction in the final 25 minutes. Bradley Barcola, signed from Paris Saint-Germain for £123m on Monday, stepped off the bench to make his debut.

The French forward received a warm ovation from the travelling supporters, who will have known the fee and the expectations that come with it. This was only a cameo, a first touch of English football rather than a defining performance, but his introduction added another jolt of excitement to a night already rich with encouragement for Liverpool fans.

Table, and what comes next

The win lifts Liverpool to fifth in the Premier League on five points, steadying the start to Iraola’s reign. Ipswich, still adjusting to the division’s demands, sit 13th with three points.

Liverpool now pivot to Europe, where Atletico Madrid await in the Champions League on Wednesday. Fulham then come to Anfield on 12 September.

Isak has finally lit the touchpaper. The question now is whether this was a one-night eruption, or the start of a season that lives up to that record-breaking fee.