Liverpool takes a victory at Emirates Stadium
Liverpool stormed Emirates Stadium in London (3-4) on Sunday and claimed a hard-fought victory that allows them to start the season in the best possible way and highlights Arsenal's ongoing problems.
The Gunners, after finishing in second place last season, were confident in taking a step forward this year and competing for their first league title since the 2003/2004 season.
The Londoners started without a traditional number 9, with Chilean Alexis Sánchez up top and Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, and Alex Iwobi in the midfield, and their summer signing, Swiss Granit Xhaka, waiting for his chance on the bench.
In the absence of injured players Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel, Arsene Wenger had to improvise a central defensive partnership with Callum Chambers, who only started twice last season, and young Rob Holding, who arrived from Bolton Wanderers.
On the other hand, Jürgen Klopp opted for a 4-3-3 lineup for Liverpool, with the lightning-fast Sadio Mané, Philippe Coutinho, and Roberto Firmino up top, and a midfield consisting of Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson, and summer signing Georginio Wijnaldum.
The German coach fielded three of the six new signings to start the game: Wijnaldum, winger Mané, signed from Southampton, and center-back Ragnar Klavan.
The match, played at a packed Emirates Stadium, was end-to-end, and the first dangerous opportunity came from Ramsey, but his shot was easily caught by a secure Simon Mignolet, who started on Sunday due to German Loris Karius' injury.
Just before the half-hour mark, the Gunners wasted a golden chance to take the lead when Mignolet saved Walcott's penalty, which was conceded by the erratic Alberto Moreno.
In the next play, just 69 seconds later, Walcott received the ball unmarked - Moreno was completely absent - and slotted it past Mignolet with his right foot to redeem himself from the missed penalty earlier and put Arsenal 1-0 up at Emirates Stadium, which is celebrating its 10th year this season.
Liverpool had their best chance to equalize right on the stroke of the 40th minute when Firmino led a counter-attack after Chambers' mistake in the delivery: Firmino passed to his compatriot Coutinho, who in turn laid the ball back for Wijnaldum, whose shot went straight into the hands of a secure Petr Cech.
The equalizing goal for the Reds came in first-half stoppage time, thanks to Coutinho. Liverpool's number 10 expertly executed a free kick from 30 meters out, won after the young Holding fouled him, and the ball curled into the top right corner of the Czech goalkeeper's net.
Liverpool completed their comeback three minutes into the second half, after an exquisite team play from Firmino, Coutinho, and Wijnaldum, which was expertly finished off by Lallana arriving from behind as Cech rushed out.
The sealing goal for Anfield's team came in the 55th minute, with Clyne's run down the right and Coutinho's finish from behind the defense.
Senegalese Mané added some icing on the cake for Klopp's side with the fourth goal in the 63rd minute: receiving the ball on the right, he shrugged off weak challenges from Chambers and Monreal before slotting it past Cech with his left foot into the top right corner.
However, just a minute later, the hosts reduced the deficit after a run down the left by Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had earlier replaced Iwobi; he eluded three defenders and unleashed a shot that found the back of Mignolet's net.
Wenger then brought in Santi Cazorla and Xhaka for Ramsey and Elneny, and with 15 minutes left, the Gunners closed the gap to one after Chambers slightly touched a free kick taken by the Spanish midfielder and beat the Belgian goalkeeper to make it 3-4.
Despite the local attempts, the scoreline remained unchanged and Klopp's Liverpool, who suffered Coutinho's injury, started the 2016/2017 campaign in an unbeatable fashion, while Arsenal realized they still have work to do to compete for the league against Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, and even Liverpool itself.