Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened

· Guardian-PL

Alexander Isak’s early quick-fire double gave Andoni Iraola his first win as Liverpool manager The teams are out! Ipswich in blue, Liverpool in red. A wonderful start-of-the-weekend, possibly-a-few-pints-to-the-good atmosphere under the lights at Portman Road! Not long now. In the meantime, here’s Dave Estherby with some pre-match words of encouragement for Liverpool : “Not really sure what’s going on upstairs at Anfield. Another summer where they’ve spaffed money up the wall for unproven PL players without realising they need a goalkeeper, two full backs, a centre half, two forwards, a winger and a replacement for whatever Mac Allister is supposed to do. AND back up for Ekitike who probably won’t play until the new year at least. Shambles. I feel sorry for Iraola, he couldn’t really turn them down but it might end up a backwards step.” Pre-match postbag. “Leaving aside Liverpool’s less than imperial start to the season, you have to admit that’s a very tasty teamsheet on offer tonight - the right blend of youth, experience, Hungary’s answer to Bryan Robson and a World Cup winner in the middle of the park, a striker coveted by Man City, a Champions League winner on the bench and in Wirtz our very own Juan Sebastian Veron!” – Peadar de Burca

Virgil van Dijk speaks to Sky Sports … “It was a good performance … great goals … Cody outstanding … onto the next … [Gakpo] is important for us … he will be important this season … he showed it today again … last week as well … and the last couple of years … [Isak] is getting up to speed now … he is going to show that with a Liverpool shirt … we recover and focus on the Champions League.”

… as does Cody Gakpo. “It was a great game … some things we have to improve still … a much-needed win for us … very happy that we got the three points … happy with the performance … hopefully we [Gakpo and Isak] can assist each other many times … he owes me a few assists now! … hopefully beautiful things are ahead … outstanding support as always.”

Andoni Iraola wears a wide smile as he congratulates his two-goal hero Alexander Isak. He’s up and running as Liverpool boss. But both teams have something to take away from that. Liverpool obviously, with the three points that get their Premier League campaign properly going. Alexander Isak, too, with his first double for Liverpool, already on three goals for the season. He’s shoved towards the travelling fans by Cody Gakpo, who assisted him twice, so he can get his flowers. But Ipswich and Gary O’Neil will be pleased too, when it all comes down, with the way they responded to conceding two quickfire goals early in the match. They battled well for the remaining 80-odd minutes, and though they didn’t really get much going in the final third, will be pleased with their overall performance and general display of moxie. It’ll stand them in good stead going forward. They’ll play worse this season and win.

Andoni Iraola’s first win as Liverpool manager!

90 min +5: Enciso cuts in from the left and looks for the top right. Way wide. Alisson had it covered. Liverpool so close now to their precious clean sheet.

90 min +4: On Sky, Chris Sutton names Alexander Isak as his player of the match. Could anybody quibble?

90 min +3: McAteer dribbles a shot goalwards. Easy for Alisson. Liverpool are closing in on just their second clean sheet in 14 matches.

90 min +2: Flemming and Davis combine cutely down the left, and for a split second look to have opened Liverpool up … but Nyoni nips in to intercept and calmly clear. He’s the real deal, and Liverpool, so short on defensive nous in their stock of midfielders, will need him over the coming months. Not sure why they didn’t act in the transfer window, but here we all are.

90 min: … so having said that, Jacquet slips and nearly allows McAteer a run on goal. But his team-mates recover the situation. Then Koumas comes on for Wirtz, who has been ineffectual, bordering on poor. There will be five additional minutes.

89 min: Enciso tries to release Greaves down the inside left, but Jacquet comes across to impose himself and shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. The young centre-back has recovered well after that shaky couple of minutes early in the second half.

88 min: Barcola closes down O’Shea, and though the ball ricochets back off him and out for an Ipswich throw, he’s earned himself another appreciative cry from the Liverpool support.

86 min: Wirtz has an opportunity to launch a counter, but misplaces the pass. Clarke is teed up, just to the left of the Liverpool D, and takes a whack. His shot deflects off his own man Diop, and sails wide of the left-hand post, but not by much. And Alisson, wrong-footed, was rooted to the spot.

84 min: Gakpo romps down the right and looks for Wirtz, free in the box. His low cross isn’t accurate, forcing Wirtz wide, and then the flag pops up for offside anyway. Then Mac Allister is subbed out for Nyoni.

83 min: A bit of space for Davis down the left again. He looks for Flemming in the middle, but Araujo deflects the cross back to Alisson. Araujo has had a good game in (one of) Liverpool’s problem position(s).

81 min: Greaves slips a cute pass down the inside-left channel to release Davis, who enters the box only to be denied a chance to shoot or cross by Araujo. But it will be a corner to Ipswich, which Lukic takes … only to fail to beat the first man. What a waste.

79 min: Another double Ipswich change, as Palacios and Fatawu are replaced by McAteer and Ouattara.

77 min: Flemming curls a weak shot in from the left. Alisson claims. Liverpool counter through Barcola, who dribbles into the box from the left and rolls unselfishly across for Szoboszlai … only for Gakpo to nip in and butcher a shot over the bar.

75 min: Fatawu dribbles dangerously down the right and enters the box … only to be denied by a characteristically haughty intervention by Van Dijk. “Jan Molby and Mike Dean!” purrs Niall Mullen. “Two football legends who could run a game from the centre circle.”

74 min: Flemming strides down the right and delivers a low cross through the Liverpool six-yard box. But there’s nobody in Ipswich blue making a run, allowing Araujo to flick clear, and in any case the flag pops up for offside.

73 min: The pace drops. Both teams unable to put much together at the minute.

71 min: Barcola chases a pass down the left but Scherpen comes out of his box to deal with the danger. “I saw Jan Molby play centre back in a Goodison derby,” writes Gary Naylor. “He never got as far as the centre circle. Still ran the game though.”

70 min: It would be a penalty for sure … Davis clipped his man … but it turns out Szoboszlai was marginally offside in the build-up. A huge let-off for Ipswich! Portman Road roars its approval.

68 min: Szoboszlai gets in ahead of Davis down the inside-right channel. He’s caught by the Ipswich man from behind. Szoboszlai goes over. The referee waves play on, but it looks like the Ipswich man clipped his opponent’s boot. VAR will get involved … and sends the referee over to the screen.

67 min: Barcola’s first couple of touches, jinking in elegantly from the left, draws oohs and aahs from the travelling support. His third, an attempt to one-two with Wirtz, doesn’t come off.

66 min: Ipswich respond with a double change of their own: Emersonn and Maeda are replaced by Clarke and Flemming, who like Barcola is also making his debut tonight.

65 min: Had Isak remained on, it would have been the first time in football history that three £100m players were on the same pitch for the same team at the same time. But we must wait for that particular modern-day pleasure.

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