Andoni Iraola claimed his first win as Liverpool head coach as Alexander Isak scored twice inside nine minutes to beat Ipswich 2-0.
The Reds had been held in their opening two matches under Iraola, which brought back memories of his start at Bournemouth in 2023, when he went 10 matches before a win. But Isak, who had scored a hat-trick on his last visit to Portman Road with Newcastle, took advantage of some poor goalkeeping from Kjell Scherpen. His first goal went through Scherpen's palms after six minutes, and the goalkeeper then came off his line from a long ball and was beaten by a low Isak finish minutes later. Both goals were assisted by Cody Gakpo, who has started brightly under Iraola.
Bradley Barcola, who joined from PSG for £123m, made his debut off the bench in the second half as Liverpool controlled their attacking play and produced an organised, professional performance to record their first clean sheet under Iraola. There was refereeing controversy, however, as Ipswich felt Jérémy Jacquet should have been shown a second yellow card for a tackle on Emersonn that was not even given as a foul. The defeat was Ipswich's second in a row, but after recovering from their nightmare start, Gary O'Neil's team put in a competitive display and were cheered off by the home fans at a packed Portman Road.
Key moments in the match: Isak scored in the 6th minute after receiving a quality pass from Gakpo and powering a strike past Scherpen's weak wrists. He added a second in the 9th minute, finding a way in behind down the left and sliding a neat finish past Scherpen, who again didn't get his angles right. In the 30th minute, Leif Davis met a cross from the right but headed wide with Liverpool looking vulnerable. Isak thought he had a first-half hat-trick in the 33rd minute after a fine cross from Florian Wirtz, but he went just early and was flagged. In the 53rd minute, Jacquet, already on a booking for a foul on Emersonn, challenged from behind and didn't seem to get much of the ball; no foul was awarded, much to the anger of the Ipswich crowd. Barcola made his Premier League debut in the 66th minute. In the 70th minute, VAR stepped in to spot a foul by Davis on Dominik Szoboszlai, but after coming to the screen, referee Darren England was told by Stockley Park that Szoboszlai was offside in the build-up, so no penalty was given.
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak speaking to Sky Sports: "We were waiting for the first win, and we were talking about staring the game good which we haven't done recently. And we did that with two goals."
