Alexander Isak's fury as he echoes Harry Kane complaint on nightmare return to pitch

Alexander Isak was left furious with Kosovo's goalkeeper in Sweden's 2-0 loss after mimicking Harry Kane's complaint over the eight-second rule. The striker was making his first appearance since his £125million Liverpool move and lost his temper at his opponent's time-wasting.

Late on in the match, the Liverpool star was seen counting eight seconds on his hands as ex-Manchester City shot-stopper Arijanet Muric took his time to release the ball. Incensed by the Kosovan's actions, an angry Isak shouted towards the referee but his protest fell on deaf ears.

Former Tottenham star Kane will know all about that because the England captain was just as furious that the eight-second rule wasn't being kept to during his country's 2-0 win over Andorra last week. The new FIFA-approved eight-second rule sees keepers penalised by the award of a corner if they hold on to the ball for too long, and was introduced in the Premier League this season.

READ MORE: Alexander Isak suffers nightmare return to action as Sweden humbled by Kosovo

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Isak's return was an unhappy one as Sweden suffered an embarrassing defeat to 95th-ranked Kosovo in their second World Cup qualifier. It wasn't the only flashpoint in the match involving Isak, despite the striker only coming on in the 72nd minute.

The British record signing, who didn't have a proper pre-season after refusing to play for Newcastle to force through his move to Liverpool, also received a booking after clashing with Kosovo's Fidan Aliti as he was unable to prevent Sweden from the humiliating loss.

The frustrations were there for all to see when, late in the match, he ranted at the referee for not implementing the rule of punishing the goalkeeper for holding onto the ball. As per the new law, the referee is supposed to signal that five seconds are left by holding up their arm, and if the goalkeeper exceeds the time frame, then a corner kick is awarded.

While this rule has been enforced in the Premier League - with Martin Dubravka for Burnley falling foul recently - it seems that it could already be slipping by the wayside in international matches after Isak and Kane's complaints.

Isak will no doubt be hoping to bounce back as soon as possible and make a better first impression when he returns to Liverpool later this week ahead of their trip to Burnley.

The Reds will travel to the Clarets on Sunday afternoon for a 2pm clash, but Isak is unlikely to feature from the off. If he does come on, it will be his first Premier League match since his bitter Newcastle exit.

Isak's actions have made him the enemy on Tyneside, but speaking after Sweden's loss to Kosovo, he insisted that people were not getting the full story on his transfer saga.

"Not everyone has the full picture, but that's something for another day. I can't control everything that's said or written. But I'm happy that I became a Liverpool player."

While fans will be hoping that the striker can hit the ground running for Liverpool as soon as possible, his lack of playing time and training over the summer will mean that Hugo Ekitike, who this week insisted he was delighted by Isak's arrival, will be expected to retain his place.

After not being used in Sweden's 2-2 draw with Slovenia, and getting just over 15 minutes in the Kosovo game, head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson confirmed to Viaplay that these decisions were due to Isak's lack of match fitness compared to the squad.

He said: "He had only done three training sessions with the team."

Meanwhile, Isak is pleased to have returned to playing after noting the "fairly new situation" of being banished from the first-team at Newcastle. He added: "It's great that everything was settled before the camp and that I could focus on playing football again.

"It's been a fairly new situation for me, but you always learn and develop mentally off the pitch as well."

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