{"id":760336,"date":"2026-09-05T01:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/760336\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T01:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:48:12","slug":"isaks-rapid-double-sinks-ipswich-to-give-andoni-iraola-first-liverpool-win-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/760336\/","title":{"rendered":"Isak\u2019s rapid double sinks Ipswich to give Andoni Iraola first Liverpool win | Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

A first win for Andoni Iraola\u2019s Liverpool<\/a>, the introduction of the latest star signing in Bradley Barcola making for a successful Friday night. Better yet, continuing signs that Alexander Isak, last year\u2019s model, is coming back to life, his two, well-taken early goals securing the three points. That Cody Gakpo, Isak\u2019s supplier, might have been at Manchester City or Tottenham had the transfer runes been right, added further to a sense of renewal. Liverpool\u2019s attackers were full of the speed and invention sorely lacking for much of last season.<\/p>\n

Once Barcola arrived in the second half, those velocity levels increased yet further, Liverpool playing the attacking style, high on risk and entertainment, the appointment of Iraola promised. \u201cWe are starting to get to the way we want to play,\u201d said Isak afterwards.<\/p>\n

Travelling Liverpool fans were made to wait for their first glimpse of \u00a3123m Barcola, his being on the bench adding further suspense to a deal that took an entire summer to complete.<\/p>\n

If Ipswich looked to show the \u201cemotional discipline\u201d their manager, Gary O\u2019Neil, said they lacked in losing 5-2 at Old Trafford, little was in evidence in a ruinous opening spell that betrayed the decent performance they went on to put in.<\/p>\n

How long will Iraola\u2019s doctrines take to embed? Perhaps not as long as feared. Isak, the most expensive player signed under the outgoing sporting director Richard Hughes, looks \u2013 at last \u2013 to be flowering. To follow his strike against Nottingham Forest, he had scored twice by the 10th minute. \u201cIf Alex is fit and is available, he will produce the numbers,\u201d said Iraola.<\/p>\n

Assisted for both by Gakpo, the finishes were of the gold standard Liverpool invested so heavily in. \u201cCody was outstanding,\u201d said Virgil van Dijk, sharing the credit. \u201cI said it before the transfer window had closed, he\u2019s important for us, and he will be important this season.\u201d Iraola joined the appreciation society: \u201cI had no doubt with Cody \u2026 he knows how much we value him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level is ruthless,\u201d said O\u2019Neil, otherwise exalted by his team\u2019s response to adversity beyond those opening nine minutes. \u201cIf you make mistakes against players like Gakpo, Wirtz and Barcola, there\u2019s a chance you will get punished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as at Old Trafford, two Ipswich goals were conceded in quick, damaging succession, the defence far too open and chaotic. After V\u00edctor Mu\u00f1oz had set off on a long run stopped only by Issa Diop\u2019s last-man tackle, Julio Enciso controlled the ball, taking a beat by standing on the ball, as if calling for calm.<\/p>\n

Isak, who had a third first-half goal disallowed for offside, made the runs into scoring positions that made his reputation, nothing like the sorry figure of his debut, lost season. Meanwhile, a no-look pass from Ipswich\u2019s captain, Dara O\u2019Shea, straight to Gakpo, betrayed a collective cognitive dissonance.<\/p>\n

Bradley Barcola beats Dara O\u2019Shea on his Liverpool debut. Photograph: Dave Shopland\/AP<\/p>\n

Florian Wirtz becoming involved with the tricks and flicks offered another pointer that last summer\u2019s huge Liverpool outlay may not be so wasteful as it appeared in Arne Slot\u2019s dog days. Iraola\u2019s appointment came with a reputation for improving players. Should the Basque get the best from the German, in a similar price bracket to Barcola and Isak, then this week\u2019s pronouncement he is happy with his squad will ring truer.<\/p>\n

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An obvious gap in the Liverpool squad left by Hughes is a commanding defensive midfielder. Enciso often located space, though suffered for a lack of quality around him. Beyond the break, with O\u2019Neil in full flow, barking at players and officials alike, Ipswich were more confrontational, less admiring of their opponent\u2019s higher skill levels. \u201cI hate having to talk about good performances when you don\u2019t get points because you need to maximise them,\u201d said O\u2019Neil, painting a picture that will not match many other summations of the match.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz, stocky and adventurous, might well prove the answer to the right-wing vacancy left by Mohamed Salah, showing off a ready work ethic before departing in the double substitution that brought Barcola on. Isak also departed, returning after full time to an ovation from fans finally seeing something close to his potential.<\/p>\n

With Gakpo pushed to centre-forward, Barcola\u2019s first touches came off the left flank, one drop of the shoulder and sprint beyond O\u2019Shea lifting the volume among the away supporters. \u201cHe hadn\u2019t played a single minute since the World Cup so we had to be careful,\u201d said Iraola. \u201cHe was always a threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

That burst of Barcola preceded another loss of Ipswich faculties as Leif Davis first pulled Dominik Szoboszlai, and then knocked him over for what appeared a clear penalty. Only an offside ruled by the video assistant protected the Ipswich defender\u2019s modesty. The announcement of that decision brought the loudest cheer of the night from the home contingent.<\/p>\n

Barcola, even amid the warp speed of the Premier League<\/a>, showed lightning acceleration when creating a late chance for Gakpo. An impressive cameo and the expectation of far more to come from the player and his new team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A first win for Andoni Iraola\u2019s Liverpool, the introduction of the latest star signing in Bradley Barcola making…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-760336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}