Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was delighted after the Reds outplayed Arsenal 4-3 in the league opener, but he admitted that his defenders need to perform better in the upcoming matches.
“Over the whole 90 minutes it’s a deserved win. It will always be difficult winning in London against Arsenal,” said Klopp.
“Staying in the game. It looked like after half an hour at 1-0 to Arsenal, it’s very warm, it’s the first game, it looked a little like not a Liverpool day.”
“Then we strike back and that’s very, very important. And, of course, then the kind of defending we showed in the last ten minutes.”
“We can score goals, we can always score goals, but we can defend much better and that’s what we have to do. We know when we defend better that we are still a threat for the opponent and that’s good news.”
Philippe Coutinho’s brace helped the Reds to clinch their second win in 14 appearances at the Emirates.
In a high-octane battle, Liverpool conceded early after Theo Walcott, who failed to score a penalty earlier, gave Arsenal the much needed lead in the 31st minute. Walcott got on the end of a pass from Iwobi, before thumping in a well-timed strike at the far post to beat Mignolet.
Coutinho scored the equaliser from a free-kick as he thumped in a curler from 25-yards out into the top corner to beat Cech.
Gaining confidence from Coutinho’s equaliser, Liverpool began a goal scoring rout as they scored three back to back to goals with a span of 18 minutes after the break.
Adam Lallana put Liverpool ahead in the 49th minute after sliding the ball past Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech. Liverpool dominated possession and worked the ball all over the pitch as Coutinho scored his second in the 56th minute to put Liverpool on the driving seat.
Liverpool new man Sadio Mane scored on his debut in the 63rd minute to take the game away from Arsenal’s reach.
Arsenal pulled one back immediately after substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored in the 64th minute from a brilliant solo effort.
Calum Chambers offered a much needed lifeline after making it 3-4 for Arsenal in the 75th minute. A rock solid Liverpool defense offered no space in the box for Arsenal as Klopp’s men snatched full three points from their league opener.
Liverpool are up against newly-promoted Burnley in their next league game on Saturday.