Liverpool Secures First Win Under Iraola as Isak Shines

Liverpool needed only nine minutes to seize control at Ipswich – and they never let it go.

Alexander Isak struck twice in a ruthless opening spell to seal a 2–0 Premier League victory in Suffolk, handing new manager Andoni Iraola his first win in charge and jolting Liverpool’s season into motion after two stuttering draws.

Both goals came from the same source. Both were finished by the same man.

Cody Gakpo, the subject of a transfer bid from Manchester City this week, cut through Ipswich twice and walked away with two assists that underlined exactly why Liverpool are in no mood to lose him. His vision set the tone; Isak’s clinical edge did the rest.

The visitors flew out of the blocks, punished Ipswich before the home side could settle and then managed the game with a control that had been missing in their 2–2 draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. The early storm they created was enough. Ipswich never found a way back.

Significance of the Win

For Iraola, this was more than just three points. It was a first clean sheet of the campaign, a first league win at the third attempt and a first glimpse of a side beginning to respond to his ideas. Five points from three matches now lift Liverpool into fifth place, a far healthier picture than it looked after back-to-back draws.

Ipswich, energetic but outgunned in those crucial opening minutes, stay on three points from their three games and sit 13th. They did at least see Bradley Barcola make his debut from the bench, a small note of optimism on a difficult afternoon.

Liverpool, by contrast, leave with clarity: a manager off the mark, a defence finally unbreached, and a forward line led by a striker in Isak who needed only nine minutes to decide the contest. The question now is whether this is the night their season truly started.