Isak's Brace Secures Liverpool's First Win Under Iraola

Andoni Iraola did not have to wait long this time. At Bournemouth, his first Premier League victory arrived after 10 games. At Liverpool, it took three – and nine ruthless minutes from Alexander Isak.

Two goals, both assisted by Cody Gakpo, both laced with help from a jittery Kjell Scherpen, gave Liverpool a 2-0 win at Portman Road and finally some calm around their new head coach’s start.

Lightning start, soft hands

Portman Road crackled at kick-off, Ipswich full of energy, Liverpool still under scrutiny after back-to-back draws. Then Isak walked into the story.

On six minutes, Gakpo slid a perfectly weighted pass into his stride. Isak drove through the middle, hit through the ball, and Scherpen’s hands simply weren’t strong enough. The shot went straight through his palms. 1-0, and a stadium stunned.

Ipswich barely had time to process it.

Three minutes later, a long ball forward tempted Scherpen into no-man’s land. The goalkeeper came, then hesitated, leaving a huge gap behind. Isak darted into the left channel, took control, and rolled a low finish past the exposed Dutchman. Two shots, two goals, same culprit. Liverpool were cruising, Ipswich reeling.

For Isak, who scored a hat-trick here on his last visit with Newcastle, Portman Road again felt like home. For Scherpen, it was a nightmare that fed straight into an uncomfortable narrative about Ipswich’s No 1 shirt.

Ipswich fight back, Liverpool manage the game

The early damage might have broken a lesser side. Gary O’Neil’s team refused to fold.

Leif Davis flashed a header wide on the half-hour from a cross on the right, a reminder that Liverpool’s back line could still be rattled. The home side began to push higher, asking questions, backed by a crowd that never really let up.

Isak briefly thought he had his hat-trick. Florian Wirtz swung in a superb cross and the Swede finished again, only to see the flag go up. He had gone a fraction early. The Ipswich defence had finally timed something right.

After the break, the game changed pace. Liverpool’s intensity dipped, by design rather than fatigue. Iraola’s side dropped into a more controlled rhythm, protecting their lead and, crucially, their first clean sheet under the Spaniard.

Ipswich still had their moments. The flashpoint came on 53 minutes when Jérémy Jacquet, already booked for a foul on Emersonn, went in from behind again. The tackle brought fury from the stands, but not even a free-kick from referee Darren England. No second yellow, no dismissal, just a rising sense of injustice in the home end.

O’Neil’s players kept going, but Liverpool’s structure held. Where Iraola’s Bournemouth once leaked late goals, his Liverpool looked far more assured, if not spectacular, in seeing the game out.

Barcola’s first taste and a VAR twist

On 66 minutes, another subplot arrived. Bradley Barcola, the £123m signing from PSG, stepped off the bench for his Premier League debut. No fireworks, no desperate need for them either. By then Liverpool were in game-management mode, showing the kind of professional edge their head coach has been demanding.

There was still room for one more argument.

With 20 minutes to play, VAR spotted a foul by Davis on Dominik Szoboszlai in the box. England went to the monitor, the away end sensed the kill shot – and then the check went deeper. Stockley Park ruled Szoboszlai offside in the build-up. No penalty, no third goal, and Ipswich’s hopes stayed flickering.

Iraola’s demands, Isak’s response

For Iraola, the performance ticked important boxes. A fast start. A clean sheet. A centre-forward who looks sharp and hungry again.

"It's nice, we needed this one," he told Sky Sports, pleased with how his team controlled large parts of the match. The first half, he knew, set the tone. The second was about discipline.

On Isak, the message was pointed. The Liverpool boss called him “a massive player” but stressed his “fights” with the striker are about more than goals – about pressing, about helping the team in all phases. Here, the plan worked. Liverpool pressed higher and harder, won the ball in advanced areas, and kept finding their No 9 in space.

Isak, speaking afterwards, sounded like a man intent on closing a chapter. Last season’s injuries and frustrations, he said, are “kind of behind me”. With a full pre-season and a clear role, he looks like the spearhead of Iraola’s attack rather than a passenger waiting for service.

O’Neil fumes at game management, Ipswich question the gloves again

O’Neil could not ignore what he saw as a double standard in how timewasting is policed.

He pointed to his own goalkeeper being hurried at Old Trafford, then contrasted that with how Liverpool were able to “kill the game” more comfortably here. He felt they “could have been hurried up”, even as he accepted that VAR had reached the right decision on the Szoboszlai offside and the overturned penalty.

Behind that irritation sits a bigger headache: the Ipswich goalkeeping spot.

Arijanet Muric’s error-strewn campaign last time they were promoted still lingers in the memory. Scherpen was supposed to draw a line under that, arriving from Union Saint-Gilloise as the new, calmer No 1. Instead, this display poured fuel on the idea that the position is cursed.

Two glaring mistakes in nine minutes against Liverpool at this level do not just cost goals; they change entire games. Ipswich had to chase from there, fighting Liverpool and their own nerves at the back. They competed well after the horror start, enough to be applauded off by a packed Portman Road, but the damage was already etched into the scoreline.

Ipswich now need Scherpen to settle, and fast. The Premier League is unforgiving to any side battling both the opposition and their own goalkeeper. Liverpool, meanwhile, leave with their first win under Iraola, a fit and firing Isak, and the sense that this new era might be accelerating at last.