Isak's first Liverpool brace sinks helpless Ipswich to hand Iraola debut win

Alexander Isak announced himself as Liverpool’s leading striker with a first-half brace at Portman Road on Friday, as the Reds beat Ipswich Town 2-0 to hand Andoni Iraola his first Premier League win as manager. The £125m summer signing from Newcastle netted twice in three minutes to settle a contest that Ipswich never truly threatened to win.

For Isak, it was a statement performance 12 months in the making. His fifth and sixth Premier League goals since joining Liverpool arrived in quick succession just after the hour mark of the first half, both created by Cody Gakpo — a player who, only a week earlier, had appeared on the verge of an £80m move to Manchester City. The Belgian’s precise work in the build-up underlined how quickly Liverpool’s attacking unit is finding its rhythm under their new head coach.

Iraola had endured a difficult opening two fixtures, with his side falling behind in each. There were no such early frailties here. Ronald Araujo, the Barcelona loanee, started at right back, while summer signing Bradley Barcola — who missed PSG’s pre-season due to France’s World Cup campaign — came off the bench to make his Premier League debut, adding further intrigue to an already eventful evening.

Ipswich, who had won on the opening weekend against Sunderland and showed promise for long stretches at Old Trafford the previous Sunday, were disorganised at the back and lacked conviction going forward. Their 18-game unbeaten home league run ended with little resistance, and manager Gary O’Neil will need swift answers ahead of a demanding run of fixtures.

The result carries a certain symmetry for Liverpool. Two years ago, it was also at Portman Road where Arne Slot earned his first win as Reds manager — also 2-0 — at the start of what became a title-winning campaign. Iraola will be cautious about drawing too many parallels; Slot’s side won 11 of their opening 13 that season. But after an uncertain start, a clean sheet and a comfortable victory on the road will at least provide a foundation to build from.

Dominique Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz both had multiple chances to add to the scoreline but left frustrated without a goal. Liverpool’s depth and quality in the final third, however, was evident throughout — and with Isak finally delivering on his enormous price tag, the mood on Merseyside will be considerably brighter heading into the international break.