Alexander Isak admitted that the uneasy wait for his first Premier League goal in a Liverpool shirt took longer than he had expected.
Much about Isak’s embryonic career on Merseyside has been delayed. The process of extricating the Swedish forward from Newcastle United this summer was so protracted Liverpool actually bought an entirely different centre forward first—who scored his maiden Premier League goal 37 minutes into the new season.
Isak’s debut was pushed back as Arne Slot tried to rebuild his fitness after a summer spent on strike, yet he still sustained a muscular injury in October.
Slot was getting ready to take Isak off against West Ham United this weekend while the game was still goalless, prolonging that wait for his maiden league goal for at least another few days. And then it happened.
“I’ve been waiting for it and chasing it,” a visibly relieved Isak told BBC’s after punching a crisp, side-footed finish into the bottom corner of Alphonse Areola’s well-guarded net. “Sometimes it takes longer than you expect but happy to score a goal and help towards the win today.”
That wait had amounted to six games, 71 days and 378 minutes of Premier League football. Isak’s drought hadn’t been a question of missed chances but rather no chances to miss. The 26-year-old registered more shots on target (two) during his 67 minutes on the pitch at London Stadium this weekend than he had mustered across the rest of the season combined (one).
“It’s never easy,” Isak said of his goal drought, “as a striker you need momentum. Sometimes you go through these patches but hopefully this will be helpful towards building good form. We defended really well and scored twice so happy days.”
