Alexander Isak Shines in Liverpool Victory
Alexander Isak finally arrived in Liverpool red.
Twelve months on from his British record £125m move from Newcastle United, the Swedish striker tore into Ipswich Town with a ruthless, nine‑minute burst that settled the contest before the home side had even adjusted to the pace of it. Questions about his impact had followed him into Suffolk. He walked out of Portman Road having silenced them.
Isak explodes, Iraola off the mark
Andoni Iraola, still feeling his way into life at Anfield, badly needed a first win. He got it in emphatic style. This was Liverpool with a cutting edge, a team that had twice fallen behind in the league this season but here struck first and never let go.
The breakthrough came inside six minutes. Cody Gakpo slipped a sharp, angled pass into the inside-right channel and Isak pounced, driving his finish low and hard past Kjell Scherpen at the near post. Simple, direct, and exactly what Liverpool have been missing in the opening weeks.
For the first time this Premier League campaign, the Reds had a lead to protect rather than a deficit to chase.
They did not linger on it. Three minutes later, the same combination ripped Ipswich open again. Gakpo found space, picked his moment and fed Isak once more, the Swede applying another precise finish to stun the home support. It was already his second of the afternoon, and the third time this season that Gakpo has set up his centre-forward in the league.
Ipswich, newly promoted and initially buoyant, suddenly looked dazed. The noise inside Portman Road dipped to a murmur. Liverpool smelled blood.
Defence stands firm as Ipswich threaten
The story was not only about the front line. With a two-goal cushion, Liverpool’s back four were asked to show a different kind of authority, and they answered.
The closest Ipswich came to dragging themselves back into the match arrived around the half-hour mark. A cross to the far post found Daizen Maeda sneaking in, seemingly set to halve the deficit. Ronald Araujo, making his full debut, read it perfectly and hurled himself into a crucial block, snuffing out the chance almost on the goal line. One moment of hesitation there and the afternoon could have changed complexion.
Instead, Liverpool kept their grip.
Isak thought he had completed his hat-trick before the interval. Florian Wirtz darted down the flank and drilled a low ball across the box, Isak sliding in to turn it home. The away end erupted, but the assistant’s flag went up and the celebrations died quickly. Offside. No treble, not this time.
The disallowed goal barely dented Liverpool’s control. They moved the ball with assurance, shut down Ipswich counters early, and managed the tempo with the kind of calm Iraola will demand every week.
Barcola’s first taste, Liverpool look ahead
The final 25 minutes brought another storyline for the travelling supporters. Bradley Barcola, the £123m signing from Paris Saint-Germain who completed his move on Monday, stepped off the bench for his debut. The reception from the away section was loud and eager, a welcome for a forward expected to add yet more firepower to an already expensive front line.
By then, the result felt secure. Liverpool saw out the closing stages without drama, Scherpen called into action only sporadically as Ipswich ran out of ideas in the final third.
The win lifts Liverpool to fifth in the Premier League table on five points, a platform rather than a finished product but a significant step after back-to-back draws against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle. Ipswich, on three points, sit 13th and will know they were effectively beaten inside the first ten minutes.
For Iraola, there is no time to linger on the relief of that first league victory. Atletico Madrid await in the Champions League on Wednesday, a very different kind of examination, before Fulham come to Anfield on 12 September.
Isak chose Suffolk to unleash his most devastating Liverpool performance yet. If this is the version that turns up in Europe and beyond, how far can this reshaped side really go?
