Nine minutes at Portman Road on Friday night did more for Alexander Isak’s Liverpool career than the 12 months that preceded them. The Sweden striker scored in the sixth minute and again in the ninth, both goals threaded through by Cody Gakpo, and the 2-0 win at newly promoted Ipswich Town handed Andoni Iraola his first victory as Liverpool head coach at the third attempt.
The numbers underline how rare the burst was. Isak’s double inside nine minutes was the earliest a Liverpool player has scored twice in a Premier League match since Maxi Rodríguez struck in the seventh minute against Fulham in May 2011. It also took Isak to three league goals in three appearances this season — matching his entire Premier League return from the whole of last season.
Nine minutes that answered a year of questions
Isak arrived from Newcastle United on deadline day in the summer of 2025 for £125m, a British record, and then spent a season looking like a player carrying the fee rather than justifying it. He came in short of fitness after a disrupted pre-season, never found sharpness, and a broken leg in December cut short any chance of building rhythm. Three league goals was the sum of it.
Both finishes at Ipswich were the work of a striker no longer thinking. The first was struck with his right foot past Ipswich goalkeeper Scherpen after Gakpo split the defence; the second, three minutes later, was rolled beyond the same goalkeeper with his left after an almost identical pass. Different feet, same movement, no hesitation on either.
“Obviously we were waiting for the first win and we were talking about starting the game good, which we haven’t done recently,” Isak said afterwards. “That was perfect for us to get two quick goals. I think we’re starting to get the way that we want to play and be offensive and attack the defence. We scored two and we could have scored more.”
Gakpo proves he is more than a squad option
The story is not Isak alone. Gakpo entered this season as the Liverpool forward whose place was least secure and has responded by becoming the supply line the team’s £125m striker was missing.
- One goal and three assists in the Premier League this season
- Assisted Isak’s equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on 29 August
- Assisted both Isak goals at Ipswich, taking the pair’s direct combinations to three in two matches
Isak was explicit about the source. “Obviously Cody found me twice pretty good,” he said. “He’s done amazingly assisting and finding me in those situations and in good positions where I enjoy having the ball.”
That last phrase matters tactically. Isak’s best work at Newcastle came running on to passes played into the space behind full-backs rather than receiving with his back to goal. Gakpo, cutting inside from the left, is the Liverpool player currently most willing to attempt that pass early instead of taking the extra touch. Under Iraola, whose Bournemouth sides were built on vertical passes into forward runs, that instinct is close to a job description.
What it means for Iraola
The win leaves Liverpool on five points from three matches and fifth in the table, after 2-2 draws with Newcastle in the opening fixture and Forest at Anfield, where they twice trailed before Muñoz levelled eight minutes from time. Iraola replaced Arne Slot this summer and has had to answer questions about a slow start almost from the first whistle.
Friday addressed the most specific of those complaints. Liverpool had been conceding the first goal and chasing games; at Portman Road they took the lead before Ipswich had settled and never surrendered it. Ipswich, back in the top flight and now beaten twice in a row, pushed hard after the interval without breaching a Liverpool defence that kept its first clean sheet of the campaign. Bradley Barcola was given his debut off the bench as the game ran down.
Perspective is still required. This was a promoted side with a goal difference of -4, and Isak’s early double removed the need for Liverpool to solve anything difficult. The evidence of a functioning attack becomes far more persuasive against opponents who do not concede twice in the opening quarter of an hour.
A Champions League meeting with Atletico Madrid is next, followed by a return to league football; Ipswich travel to Crystal Palace. For Liverpool, the question is no longer whether Isak can score in this team — it is whether Gakpo keeps finding him when defences sit deeper and the space behind disappears.
Sources: [ESPN match report](https://www.espn.com/soccer/report/_/gameId/401879288), [Liverpool FC — Isak reaction](https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/reaction-alexander-isak-ipswich-win-quickfire-double-and-cody-gakpo-connection), [Goal.com — Maxi Rodríguez record](https://www.goal.com/en/lists/-alexander-isak-matches-maxi-rodriguez-liverpool-feat-ipswich/bltf307a3c816cde7cc), [Goal.com — Isak’s £125m transfer and second season](https://www.goal.com/en/lists/goals-assists-target-alexander-isak-liverpool-record-breaking-125m-transfer/blt7a1650182c1d7bd7), [WRAL/AP — Liverpool 2-2 Forest](https://www.wral.com/news/ap/6ed14-liverpool-rallies-to-2-2-draw-with-forest-in-premier-league-as-iraola-waits-for-first-win-with-reds/)
**~735 words.** Two notes on editorial choices: I verified the story before writing — the match (Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool, 4 September 2026, Isak 6′ and 9′, both assisted by Gakpo) is real, as is Iraola’s first win at the third attempt. I wrote it in SportsPortal’s voice rather than as Phil McNulty, since the brief’s summary attributes that framing to the BBC’s chief football writer and publishing under his angle in another outlet’s byline would be misattribution.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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