Alexander Isak Shines in Liverpool Victory Over Ipswich
Three minutes. That was all it took for Alexander Isak to rip the night away from Ipswich and, just maybe, jolt his Liverpool career into life.
Portman Road under the lights had been billed as Bradley Barcola’s stage, the moment the £125m winger – joint-most expensive in English football history – finally stepped into the glare in Liverpool red. Instead, it was the other big-money signing who stole the script.
Isak explodes, Iraola breathes
Isak arrived at Liverpool with a price tag and a reputation, then spent 12 months watching the numbers refuse to budge. Six Premier League goals in that time is not what £125m usually buys. On Friday, he doubled his tally in three first-half minutes.
Loitering on the shoulder of a rattled Ipswich back line, the Sweden striker struck first after six minutes. Cody Gakpo slid a precise, weighted pass into the channel, and Isak drove his finish in at the near post. Kjell Scherpen should have done better. The ball still bulged the net. Relief roared louder than celebration.
Before Ipswich could reset, Liverpool went again. Gakpo, head up, shaped an outrageous outside-of-the-foot pass that carved the hosts open. Isak, suddenly playing like a man unburdened, chopped one way, then the other, and rolled his left-footed finish beyond the exposed Iversen. Two-nil. Two for Isak. Andoni Iraola wheeled away on the touchline as the away end chanted “Isak again ole ole”.
For a manager still searching for his first Premier League win in the Liverpool dugout, this felt significant. His first two games had been chaotic, his team repeatedly chasing from behind. Here, there was no early wobble, no sense of fragility. Just a ruthless start and a grip on the game they never really loosened.
Two years ago, Arne Slot had started his Liverpool reign with a 2-0 win at this same ground, the first step in a title-winning season that few saw coming. No one around Liverpool is talking about that kind of surge yet – Slot opened with 11 wins in 13 – but Iraola needed a marker. This looked and felt like one.
Gakpo, the quiet conductor
For all the noise around Isak and the anticipation around Barcola, the man who keeps bending Liverpool’s attack to his will is Gakpo.
A goal on the opening weekend against Newcastle. An assist against Nottingham Forest. Here, two defence-splitting passes to lay on Isak’s brace, then a stint as a No 9 in the final half-hour. In the most crowded area of Liverpool’s squad, the Dutch international keeps elbowing his way to the front.
And all this a week after an £80m move to Manchester City seemed close. Iraola brushed off any suggestion of distraction.
“I had no doubt with Cody,” the Spaniard said. “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.”
It is not just the output. Iraola highlighted how quickly Gakpo looks forward when Liverpool win the ball, ignoring the “safety” pass in favour of threading something braver between defenders. That, the coach insisted, is non-negotiable.
“We want to risk,” he 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 risk-reward balance in midfield, will have heard the message.
Selection calls and a soft Ipswich core
Iraola made bold choices. Ronald Araujo, on loan from Barcelona, started at right back instead of the much-maligned Jeremie Frimpong. Barcola, still short of sharpness after missing PSG’s entire pre-season due to France’s World Cup run, had to wait on the bench.
He did not need his headline signing to expose Ipswich’s soft centre.
Gary O’Neil’s side had come into the game on an 18-match unbeaten home league run and had impressed in spells at Old Trafford. Here, they were stretched, scrambled and repeatedly sliced open through midfield. The usual shield in front of the back four simply wasn’t there. Szoboszlai and Wirtz surged into the space at will, each taking aim at goal and each walking off frustrated not to have scored.
At the other end, Ipswich had flickers rather than fire. When they did manage to evade Iraola’s trademark high press, there were gaps to exploit. Abdul Fatawu regularly beat Milos Kerkez down the right but wasted his efforts with poor finishing. Araujo scrambled one crucial clearance from Julio Enciso’s cross when a tap-in seemed certain.
The home crowd tried to lift them. The game never quite followed.
Missed chances, but no late twist
If there was a criticism of Liverpool’s frontline, it was that they failed to bury the contest by half-time. Szoboszlai saw efforts beaten away by Iversen. Isak strayed lazily offside when a Wirtz cross gave him the chance of a first Liverpool hat-trick.
The pattern hardened after the break. Liverpool pressed higher, pinned Ipswich deeper, and carved out more chances. Alexis MacAllister should have settled it with a free header, only to nod straight at Iversen. Szoboszlai briefly thought he had won a penalty when Leif Davis tugged at his shirt, but VAR ruled him offside in the build-up.
Then came the moment the away end had waited for.
Barcola’s first steps
On 63 minutes, Iraola made the call that raised eyebrows and then silenced them. Isak, on a brace and hunting a hat-trick, was withdrawn. On came Barcola to a roar that rolled the length of the away section.
What followed was only a cameo, but it crackled with promise. A few sharp turns, feet whirring in tight spaces. One burst in behind that left his marker flat-footed and revealed a startling change of pace. No goal, no assist, but enough to confirm what Liverpool thought they were buying: a winger who will make right backs across the league very uncomfortable.
The game itself drifted towards its conclusion. Liverpool kept the ball, kept their shape and kept their clean sheet. Ipswich, chasing shadows by the end, could only watch their proud home run dissolve with barely a protest.
A line in the sand?
Liverpool have only once gone seven Premier League games without a win, back in 2000. That statistic hovered in the background before kick-off. It felt a long way away by full-time.
A first league victory for Iraola. A shut-out. His leading No 9 in the goals. Gakpo dictating. Barcola finally on the pitch. Wirtz and Szoboszlai driving from deep. For a club that has poured vast sums into its attacking talent, this was a night when the pieces started to look like they might actually fit.
The question now is simple: was this just a bright away day in East Anglia, or the moment Liverpool’s expensive project truly caught light?
