Alexander Isak's Transformative Performance Leads Liverpool to Victory

Alexander Isak walked into Portman Road as the £125m question and walked out looking every inch the answer Liverpool thought they were buying.

Two goals inside nine ruthless minutes. A 2-0 win. Andoni Iraola’s first Premier League victory as Liverpool manager. On paper, it was a routine Friday night against a newly promoted Ipswich Town still bearing the scars of a five-goal beating at Manchester United. On the pitch, it felt like the night Liverpool’s record signing finally turned up.

Isak, at last

For a year, Isak had looked like a cautionary tale. He arrived from Newcastle United out of shape after forcing through that acrimonious move, then spent the season limping between injuries and indifferent form. Four goals in 22 games in all competitions, three in 14 in the league, one every 234 Premier League minutes. For a £125m striker, it bordered on damning.

He was outshone by Hugo Ekitike. He was a symbol of Liverpool’s staggering title defence collapse under Arne Slot, which ended with the Dutchman sacked barely a year after lifting the Premier League trophy. Isak looked less like a marquee signing and more like a monument to excess.

This was different. This was the Newcastle Isak, the one who terrified defences by running in behind and pressing with real menace. Iraola used him exactly that way – high, sharp, aggressive – and the transformation was stark.

The first goal, on six minutes, was simple but devastating. Cody Gakpo slipped a clever pass through the gap between Leif Davis and Jacob Greaves, and Isak exploded into it. One touch, then a vicious right-foot strike that carried too much power for Kjell Scherpen, who still made a mess of it by helping the ball into his own net.

Three minutes later, the move was pure theatre. Gakpo, inside his own half, carved Ipswich open with an outrageous outside-of-the-boot pass. Isak read it instantly, ghosted inside Greaves with a deft left-foot flick as Scherpen rushed out, then toyed with the keeper – a touch with his right to send him the wrong way, a rolled finish with his left into the empty net.

From Gakpo’s vision to Isak’s ice-cold execution, it was perfection. And the contest was effectively done before Ipswich could settle.

Gakpo’s masterclass – and a twist of fate

Isak took the headlines, but Gakpo quietly ran the game. He was supposed to be gone by now, preparing for Manchester City’s fixture against Coventry City at Etihad Stadium. He was happy to join Enzo Maresca’s new project. The move collapsed only because Liverpool failed to land Yankuba Minteh from Brighton or Ismaila Sarr from Crystal Palace.

That sliding door slammed shut, and Liverpool are suddenly very glad it did.

Here, Gakpo stitched everything together. Two assists, yes, but also an all-round display that looked like the best of the elegant Netherlands forward – drifting into pockets, linking play, dictating tempo. This was a player who, like Isak, struggled for rhythm last season. Now he looks reborn.

Virgil van Dijk, his captain for club and country, did not hide his relief that Gakpo is still in red. “He’s important for us, and he will be important this season,” he said. “He showed it here. He showed it last week as well, and over the last couple of years. He needs to just keep going.”

Liverpool will hope the same mantra applies to Isak.

Cracking the code

The numbers already hint at a reset. Isak has matched last season’s Premier League goal tally within three games. More telling than the statistics, though, is his body language. The shoulders were up, the runs were sharp, the pressing relentless. He looked like a forward who finally trusts his body and his role.

Iraola was clear about the scale of his importance. “He’s a massive player for us,” the manager said. The goals will come, he insisted; his focus is on the rest of Isak’s game, on how he helps the team in different situations. Two full matches, key goals, and a fit, engaged striker – no wonder Iraola was smiling.

Isak himself did not hide how hard the past year had been. A long injury, a “difficult season in general”, hopes of a strong World Cup and a fresh start. Now, with a proper pre-season behind him, he believes Liverpool are finally playing the way they want to: on the front foot, attacking defences, suffocating teams early. “We scored two, and we could have scored more,” he said, and he was right.

Portman Road certainly suits him. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, his five Premier League goals there are the joint-most by any player at a single away ground, level with Erling Haaland’s haul against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. For a striker who has spent months under scrutiny, it is a quirky, but telling, statistic.

Barcola’s glimpse and a new edge

On another night, Bradley Barcola’s debut would have dominated the conversation. The £123m signing from Paris St-Germain only had 26 minutes, yet he flashed exactly what Liverpool paid for: searing pace, direct running, the kind of raw threat that stretches tired defenders and opens space for others.

Here, even that cameo was a subplot. Isak’s resurgence and Gakpo’s artistry overshadowed everything.

The caveat, of course, is the opposition. Ipswich, brave and willing, are still adjusting to the top flight. They conceded five at Old Trafford last week. Better teams will not be as generous, nor as ragged when hit early. Liverpool know that.

But context matters too. This was a team that staggered through last season, burdened by expectation, haunted by a failed title defence and a record signing who could not catch fire. Now, under a new manager, with their most expensive forward finally looking like himself and a nearly-sold playmaker pulling strings, they have their first win and something more valuable: a clear idea of how they can hurt teams.

The challenge is obvious. Iraola cannot allow this to be a one-off, a bright flash before the doubts creep back in. Isak has shown the player he can be. Liverpool have shown the attack they can build around him.

The next few weeks will reveal whether this was merely a cathartic night in Suffolk – or the moment a £125m striker truly began to justify the price.