Defences sleep as Reds beat Gunners 4-3
Brilliant Brazilian wins battle of bad defences
ARSENAL 3
(Theo Walcott 31, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 64, Calum Chambers 75)
LIVERPOOL 4
(Philippe Coutinho 45, 56, Adam Lallana 49, Saido Mane 63)
With the world focusing on sporting events in Rio, a Brazilian danced to his own beat in North London.
Philippe Coutinho (above) scored two and set up a third as Liverpool swaggered to a remarkable 4-3 victory at Arsenal this morning (Singapore time).
Juergen Klopp signed seven players over the summer, but an old boy heralded a new dawn for the sunny Scousers.
Coutinho basked in the sunshine, swinging and swaying through Arsenal's makeshift defence to warm the hearts of Merseysiders everywhere.
But there were only hearts of darkness among wounded Gunners. By the final whistle, the mood was mutinous.
Arsene Wenger, who continues to insist he will not spend lavishly before the transfer window closes, has embarked upon the final year of his contract.
At this rate, he'll be lucky to last that long.
And yet, the contest started so differently, as Alberto Moreno did all he could to hand victory to his opponents.
Arsenal were desperately short of cover in central defence, forcing Wenger to pair Calum Chambers with newcomer Rob Holding, but it was Moreno who looked like the novice.
Theo Walcott continued where he left off last season, being brilliant, baffling and brilliant again in the space of 90 seconds. And he had an able deputy in the unable Moreno.
The left back's reckless foul in the box took out Walcott. The winger then stepped up, but his first Premier League penalty was palmed away by Simon Mignolet.
Still, the Arsenal winger made amends seconds later, latching onto to Alex Iwobi's exquisite pass to strike a low effort across Mignolet.
Moreno arrived later than a letter with no postage stamp.
Klopp included one of his defensive signings, Ragnar Klavan, in the middle, but the real problems are at left back. Moreno is an accident waiting to happen.
Liverpool's lack of fluidity must have alarmed their charismatic coach, who has made quick, counter-pressing a hallmark of each of his previous clubs.
Luckily, 45 minutes of insipid plodding was swiftly forgotten, thanks to a moment of inspired precision from Coutinho.
He needed just a couple of steps to score the goal of the weekend, whipping a 25-metre free-kick over the wall and into the top corner, a glorious strike.
The momentum shifted. Frayed nerves and strangled voices among the home supporters betrayed their tension. Arsenal fell behind just four minutes after the interval.
Coutinho, thoroughly enjoying himself, sliced through Arsenal's defence with a lovely flicked pass to find Georginio Wijnaldum, who in turn picked out Adam Lallana.
The England midfielder took the ball down beautifully and buried his shot beneath Petr Cech.
On the touchline, Klopp punched his chest like a cornered gorilla, losing his glasses in the process. This wasn't blind devotion, but an acknowledgement of a side slowly coming to terms with his philosophy.
Liverpool get better and more frenetic as games progress, like their manager.
By 56 minutes, they were running riot. Another fast and furious team goal ended with Coutinho tucking Nathaniel Clyne's cross past Cech.
Liverpool had come to party. Arsenal had gone to pieces. They were dead on their feet.
Inexplicably, Sadio Mane was allowed to live up to his hefty transfer fee and cut inside two defenders before smashing home a devilish drive for the visitors' fourth in the 63rd minute, triggering a mass exodus.
Just an hour into the new season, many Arsenal fans had already seen enough, which was a tad premature as substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled a goal back a minute later as the game gave up on defending and descended into farce.
Even Chambers got in on the act, nodding in Santi Cazorla's free-kick in the 75th minute.
But, in an erratic, entertaining, battle of the bad defences, Liverpool prevailed, thanks to Coutinho.
The back four of both clubs must improve quickly, but the Gunners appear to be sliding towards an early crisis already.
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