A match doomed to end in a goalless draw saw Philippe Coutinho’s stunning long-range strike give Liverpool a late victory away at Stoke City on Sunday.
It was a lacklustre Premier League encounter until the Brazilian’s magic four minutes from the end.
The match ended 0-1 in favour of the visitors from Anfield.
Former Liverpool man, Glen Johnson, could have put his new side in front in the first half, but skewed his shot over the bar from 12 yards out.
Charlie Adam’s long-range free-kick almost sneaked in at the back post but was pushed away by Simon Mignolet.
The two sides met on the final day of last season, when Stoke’s 6-1 win was Liverpool’s heaviest defeat since 1963.
It meant Mark Hughes’ side ended the campaign with 54 points, their highest total in the top flight.
Despite last season’s embarrassing result, Liverpool’s owners backed Brendan Rodgers and kept him as manager, so have things improved?
Although victorious this time round, Liverpool have work to do on how to bed together their attacking players.
Christian Benteke touched the ball just five times in the penalty area, and will need to improve as he faces competition from substitute Roberto Firmino – who had a run out in the last 15 minutes – and Danny Ings. Daniel Sturridge will add to the fight for places when he returns from injury next month.
Meanwhile, Stoke are an uncompromising outfit under Mark Hughes, with new boys Ibrahim Afellay and Marco van Ginkel giving extra class to a side who were undone by a special strike.
