Isak Leads Liverpool to First Win Under Iraola

Andoni Iraola did not have to wait long this time. Two games without a victory had stirred old memories of his slow, winless start at Bournemouth. At Portman Road, those ghosts were chased away inside nine frantic minutes by a ruthless Alexander Isak and a goalkeeper who never settled.

Two punches, same target

Liverpool were sharp from the first whistle, and Ipswich never recovered from the opening blows.

On six minutes, Cody Gakpo slid a perfectly weighted pass into Isak’s stride. The Swede drove through the middle, hit through the ball with power, and watched it burst straight through the palms of Kjell Scherpen. Weak wrists, 0-1, and a familiar sinking feeling for a fanbase that has seen too many soft goals from its No 1.

Ipswich were still reeling when Liverpool struck again. A long ball caught Scherpen in two minds and in the wrong postcode. The goalkeeper wandered, hesitated, and Isak needed no second invitation. He darted in down the left channel and rolled a low finish past the stranded Dutchman for his second. Two chances, two Gakpo assists, two goals. Iraola’s first win was already taking shape.

Isak had scored a hat-trick here on his last visit with Newcastle. It felt, briefly, like a sequel was being written.

When Florian Wirtz whipped in a superb cross on 33 minutes and Isak finished again, Portman Road braced for the inevitable. The flag spared Ipswich. The run had gone a fraction early. No hat-trick, not this time.

Ipswich fight back – but the damage is done

Once Ipswich steadied themselves, Gary O’Neil’s side refused to fold.

Leif Davis should have halved the deficit on the half-hour, stealing into space to meet a cross from the right, only to guide his header wide with Liverpool’s back line exposed. It was the sort of moment that can tilt a game; instead, it underlined the fine margins Ipswich are living with at this level.

The hosts grew into the contest, pushed Liverpool deeper and, for long spells, matched the visitors physically and tactically. Portman Road stayed with them. At full-time, despite a second straight defeat, the home players were clapped off.

They had made a contest of it. Their goalkeeper had not.

Scherpen and a shirt that suddenly feels cursed

For Ipswich, the No 1 jersey is starting to feel like a burden.

Last season, Arijanet Muric arrived from Burnley as the trusted first-choice and endured a campaign scarred by high-profile errors. The summer signing of Scherpen from Union Saint-Gilloise was meant to end that narrative, to bring calm and authority behind a promoted side trying to survive.

Instead, his first home outing in the Premier League was a nightmare. Both Liverpool goals were on him. At this level, those moments are fatal.

Ipswich spent long stretches of the first half executing O’Neil’s plan, pressing with intelligence, limiting clear chances. One misjudged step off his line, one shot mishandled, and all of that work was shredded. You can’t game-plan for your own goalkeeper undoing you.

Scherpen will have to settle quickly. Ipswich cannot afford to wage war on the opposition and their own penalty area at the same time. After Muric’s struggles and this latest collapse, it is no surprise some fans are starting to talk about a curse on the shirt.

Iraola’s Liverpool show another side

If the first half was about aggression and incision, the second half was about control.

Liverpool eased off the throttle after the break, content to manage the game and protect what they had. Iraola’s team pressed with far more cohesion than in their opening fixtures, winning the ball high and feeding Isak in the pockets he thrives in.

“Today we were much, much better in our press,” Iraola told Sky Sports. “We were recovering very high and then we can contact him in good positions. If we recover the ball lower, it will be more difficult to find him.”

He knows what he has in his No 9.
“It’s a massive player for us,” he said. The goals are expected; the “fights” with Isak, as Iraola called them, will be about everything else – the pressing, the link play, the dirty work that turns a scorer into a complete centre-forward.

For Isak, this felt like a line in the sand after a difficult, injury-hit year.

“We were waiting for the first win,” he said. “With a normal pre-season, I think we're starting to get the way we want to play, being offensive and attack the defence. We showed that today. We scored two and could have scored more.

“That season is kind of behind me, but it wasn't easy.”

Two games into Iraola’s reign, Isak already looks like the striker this system is built around.

Barcola’s first glimpse and flashpoints in the whistle

The second half did not lack drama.

On 53 minutes, Portman Road erupted when Jérémy Jacquet, already on a yellow for a foul on Emersonn, flew into another challenge from behind. Ipswich wanted a second booking. They did not even get a free-kick. The anger rolled down from the stands and lingered.

Liverpool thought they had a penalty with 20 minutes to play. VAR spotted a foul by Davis on Dominik Szoboszlai, and referee Darren England went to the monitor. Then came the twist: Stockley Park ruled Szoboszlai offside in the build-up. No spot-kick, and another roar from the home crowd.

By then, a new face had stepped onto the Premier League stage. Bradley Barcola, the £123m signing from PSG, arrived from the bench on 66 minutes. This was only a cameo, a few neat touches and disciplined work without the ball, but it was also a marker. Liverpool’s attack, already humming, now has another expensive weapon waiting in the wings.

Iraola’s side, though, chose pragmatism over spectacle. They tightened up, took fewer risks, and closed out what he called a “clean sheet, controlling the game quite well.” It was not as thrilling as the first half, but it was the sort of professional, grown-up performance managers remember.

O’Neil fumes at game management

Gary O’Neil’s frustration was not limited to his goalkeeper.

He felt Liverpool were allowed to run the clock down with far more freedom than his side had been given at Old Trafford.

“We've been pushed on timewasting a lot,” he said. “My goalkeeper is being hurried up at Old Trafford when we weren't even set and they were able to kill the game a lot easier here. That upset me a bit. They could have been hurried up.

“Officials did a good job though. VAR arrived to the right conclusion on the penalty.”

It was a pointed complaint, but also a nod to the reality of life back in the top flight. Big clubs know how to suffocate a game. Ipswich are learning how quickly it can slip away.

A first step for Iraola, a warning for Ipswich

For Liverpool, this was exactly what Iraola needed: a fast start, his centre-forward firing, his pressing structure taking shape, and a first clean sheet to bank.

For Ipswich, it was a reminder of how unforgiving the Premier League can be. Compete for 80 minutes, switch off twice, and you walk away with nothing but questions about your goalkeeper and the weight of that No 1 shirt.

The season is young, but the patterns are forming. Can Ipswich break the cycle at the back before it drags them into trouble, or will another campaign be defined by the man in goal?