Liverpool secured their first win under manager Andoni Iraola with a 2-0 victory over Ipswich at Portman Road, ending a run of two draws to start Iraola's reign. The goals were scored by Alexander Isak in the 6th and 9th minutes, set up by Cody Gakpo. Liverpool moved on to five points from three fixtures, while Ipswich suffered their second consecutive loss. New signing Bradley Barcola made his debut off the bench for Liverpool in the second half.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola finally secured his first win with the team on Friday, beating Ipswich Town 2-0 in the Premier League. The victory was thanks in large part to goals from Alexander Isak, who scored twice in the opening minutes of the game, and made it seem easy for Liverpool to secure their first win under Iraola's management. Bradley Barcola made his debut for Liverpool as a 64th-minute substitute, joining the team from Paris Saint-Germain for a record £123million deal.
Isak's goals came courtesy of assists from Cody Gakpo, who continued to impress despite interest from Manchester City and Tottenham. Gakpo set up Isak with a perfect pass on the right side of the box, allowing him to score his first goal in the 6th minute. Just three minutes later, Gakpo assisted again, this time using the outside edge of his boot to bend a long forward pass behind the defense and meet Isak's run.
Iraola was pleased with Barcola's performance, saying that he "had good minutes" and showed a "very good pass". However, Iraola also acknowledged that Barcola hasn't played any competitive minutes since the World Cup, so they need to be careful not to put too much pressure on him.
Written for “Liverpool vs Ipswich Result” on 2026-09-05,
grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 4004 · logged 2026-09-04
The Reds had been held in the opening two matches of Iraola’s reign to spark memories of his start to life at Bournemouth in 2023 where it took 10 matches before he could celebrate a maiden Premier League win.
uncertain
he → hold → win
Isak ensured Iraola did not have to wait as long this time with a sixth-minute opener at Portman Road followed by another three minutes later.
asserted
Iraola → ensure → Road
Both goals were set up by the excellent Cody Gakpo and, while newly-promoted Ipswich rallied, Liverpool secured all three points.
asserted
Liverpool → set → points
Iraola handed a debut off the bench to £123million forward Bradley Barcola in the second half, but the night belonged to Isak as Liverpool moved on to five points from three fixtures ahead of Wednesday’s return to Champions League action at home to Atletico Madrid.
asserted
Liverpool → hand → Madrid
This defeat made it two in a row for Ipswich but, after they recovered from their nightmare start, Gary O’Neil’s team produced a spirited response and will aim to bounce back at Crystal Palace next week.
asserted
team → make → Palace
Iraola resisted the temptation to start Barcola and then watched Liverpool’s big-money signing from last summer immediately wreak havoc in Suffolk.
asserted
signing → resist → Suffolk
Only six minutes were on the clock when Gakpo, still at the club despite interest from Tottenham and Manchester City, cut inside and played a defence-splitting pass into Isak, who controlled and rifled a shot beyond Kjell Scherpen.
asserted
who → cut → Scherpen
Scherpen could have got a stronger hand to the effort and three minutes later he conceded again.
uncertain
he → get → effort
Gakpo produced an ever better assist this time with an outstanding outside-of-the-boot through-ball into Isak and the former Newcastle forward squared up Jacob Greaves before he slotted his finish under Scherpen.
asserted
he → produce → Scherpen
The goalkeeper again did not cover himself in glory, but two saves from long-range Dominik Szoboszlai strikes settled down the Dutchman before O’Neil watched the hosts fight back.
asserted
hosts → cover → Dutchman
First Emersonn was denied by Jeremy Jacquet’s block before fine play from Julio Enciso nearly set up a chance for the Ipswich forward, only for full debutant Ronald Araujo to clear.
asserted
Araujo → deny → forward
Leif Davis then sent a header over, but at the other end the offside flag denied Isak a 33-minute hat-trick when he went fractionally too early before converting an excellent Florian Wirtz pass.
asserted
he → send → pass
Liverpool almost made it 3-0 at the start of the second half when a rapid counter-attack teed up Wirtz, but Daizen Maeda deflected the ball wide.
asserted
Maeda → make → ball
Alisson Becker spilled an effort by Enciso on the hour mark before Iraola turned to the bench and summoned Barcola in the 64th minute.
asserted
Iraola → spill → minute
Isak made way along with Victor Munoz, which sent utility man Szoboszlai further forward on the right wing, and he wanted a penalty with 22 minutes left after being caught by Davis, but a VAR review showed the Hungary international was offside.
Barcola showed his pace moments later in front of Liverpool’s noisy away support, but Scherpen raced out to beat him to the ball.
asserted
Scherpen → make → ball
Ipswich pushed for a consolation late on, with new boy Zian Flemming introduced, but fellow substitute Jack Clarke had a shot deflected wide by team-mate Issa Diop as it ended 2-0 to the visitors.
asserted
it → push → visitors
