Alexander Isak Faces Hostile Reception on Liverpool Return
Alexander Isak hadn’t even reached the main doors of St James’ Park before the verdict arrived.
The Liverpool striker, back on Tyneside for the first time since his stormy £125million switch to Anfield last September, was met with a wall of noise from the Newcastle United fans gathered outside. “Rat” rang out from the home support as he darted from the team coach towards the stadium entrance, a hostile soundtrack to his return.
It didn’t stop there. During the warm-up, every step, every stretch, drew jeers. When he turned to head back down the tunnel, the boos rained down again. Isak allowed himself a faint, knowing smile. He knew exactly what he had walked into.
Inside, Liverpool named him in the starting XI. It almost felt like a challenge thrown at the stands. Every touch in that first half was hunted down by whistles and abuse, a barrage of X-rated chants chasing him across the pitch. The noise rarely dipped.
On the few occasions the ball did find him, the anger briefly turned to something else. When referee Stuart Attwell waved away what looked like a foul on Isak, leaving the forward sprawled on the turf and fuming, the Gallowgate roared its approval. No free-kick, no sympathy.
Moments like that were rare. Isak spent most of the opening 45 minutes starved of service, cut adrift as Liverpool’s attack misfired and never quite found its rhythm. The record signing drifted, pressed, chased – but rarely threatened.
After the break, the chance finally came. Cody Gakpo slipped the ball into his path, space opening up, the goal in his sights. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Instead, his shot flew high, sailing harmlessly over and into a storm of gleeful mockery from the Newcastle fans who once adored him.
For new Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola, the message was clear. Unlocking Isak is non-negotiable this season. This display only underlined how much Arne Slot, hampered by the Swede’s long injury absences, struggled to do exactly that last term.
Florian Wirtz, expected to be the main supply line to Isak, also fell short of the billing. The Germany international worked, chased, tried to knit things together, but the end product never truly arrived. Midway through the second half, his number went up and he was withdrawn, another reminder that Liverpool’s attacking puzzle is far from solved.
One small step forward for Isak: he stayed on the pitch to the final whistle for the first time in a Liverpool shirt. He was still there when Dominik Szoboszlai buried a late penalty to salvage a dramatic equaliser, a rare moment of release for the visitors on a night that had felt suffocating.
As the players finally left the pitch, the noise followed him again. More abuse, more pointed chants, as Isak trudged towards the tunnel and disappeared from view. The hostility had lasted as long as the match.
This is not the start Isak or Liverpool imagined when that £125m deal was signed. The reunion was bruising, the performance underwhelming, the questions louder than ever.
Now comes the real test: can Liverpool turn their record signing from lightning rod into match-winner before this season starts to slip away?
