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Liverpool came from behind to begin their Premier League season with victory in a seven-goal thriller against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
![]() The hosts took the lead through Theo Walcott, who recovered from missing a penalty to slot home just 69 seconds later, but Jurgen Klopp's side stormed back as a Philippe Coutinho brace and strikes from Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane proved enough to seal the points. Arsenal rallied to grab two back through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers but ultimately came up short as Liverpool were left celebrating a remarkable 4-3 win. The game took time to get going but it was Arsenal who were given a golden opportunity to take the lead when Walcott was felled inside the box by Alberto Moreno. The England international dusted himself down to take the resulting penalty only for Simon Mignolet to guess right and make the save. Walcott did not let his head drop, however, and made up for the miss by putting the Gunners ahead moments later, picking up Alex Iwobi's pass and this time giving Mignolet no chance. With Arsenal upping the pace, Liverpool tried to hit back straight away but Roberto Firmino's effort was well wide of Petr Cech's right-hand post as Klopp's side struggled to create chances. Arsenal's young centre-back pairing of Chambers and debutant Rob Holding had been keeping the visitors quiet but a misplaced pass out of defence from the former saw Firmino and Coutinho combine to set-up Georginio Wijnaldum, but the Dutchman's shot was weak and Cech saved comfortably. Liverpool were level on the stroke of half-time as Holding fouled Coutinho outside the box and the Brazilian superbly curled home the free-kick. Klopp's side were soon in front as Wijnaldum's cross into Lallana less than five minutes after the restart was controlled and swept home by the England man. The third followed shortly afterwards, Nathaniel Clyne driving a low cross into the danger area, where Coutinho arrived before Holding to knock past Cech for his second of the afternoon. Arsenal's inexperienced centre-backs were starting to creak under the strain of mounting Liverpool pressure and Coutinho came close to his hat-trick as Firmino eased past Chambers before teeing up his compatriot - whose shot was saved by Cech. But more was to come from the visitors with Mane grabbing a debut goal, cutting inside Nacho Monreal before arrowing a fine finish out of Cech's reach. Substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain gave Arsenal hope as he beat two men before seeing his tame shot beat Mignolet to reduce the deficit. Coutinho was then forced off with an injury and the atmosphere among the home fans changed once again as Chambers flicked in Santi Cazorla's free-kick for the seventh goal of the game. But Liverpool saw out the remaining 15 minutes to take the three points and dish out a second opening day home defeat in succession for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.
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Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here. ![]() |
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic marked his Premier League debut with a goal as Jose Mourinho's Manchester United tenure began with a convincing 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.
![]() The match was Mourinho's first Premier League game in charge of United but nevertheless Ibrahimovic arrived as the star attraction on the south coast and the Swede did not disappoint, unleashing a superb long-range strike in the second half. He has now scored on debut in Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Champions League. Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney's goals had earlier put United in command before Bournemouth defender Adam Smith added what proved only to be a consolation. Mourinho has spent almost £150millon turning United into title contenders this summer but with #89million man Paul Pogba suspended and Henrikh Mkhitaryan starting on the bench, it was left to Ibrahimovic to provide the blockbuster appeal. The 34-year-old has previously plied his trade for Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris St Germain, but the Vitality Stadium, with its raucous 11,464 fans, seemed primed to offer an altogether different type of challenge. Sloppy touches early on and a clattering from defender Simon Francis offered the hosts room for encouragement, but it is goals that Ibrahimovic's success this season will be measured by and his was certainly the pick of the bunch. Mata will also hope to be judged on merit rather than reputation, after all his United career only began when Mourinho decided he was not suited to his style of play at Chelsea while in the Community Shield last weekend, the Spaniard endured the humiliation of coming on and off again as a substitute. Whether his goal here signals the start of some sort of rapprochement between the pair remains to be seen but Mourinho must have noticed that Mata was arguably United's brightest performer before going off for Mkhitaryan with 15 minutes to play. Bournemouth's best spell came early on as Luke Shaw turned into trouble when his loose touch almost allowed Callum Wilson a shot at goal but otherwise both sides struggled for rhythm in the opening stages. With half an hour on the clock, United gradually established a foothold although their opening goal was largely due to a combination of good fortune and defensive error rather than any fluent attacking move. Francis' under-hit back-pass set Artur Boruc scrambling and as the goalkeeper attempted to clear, the ball instead rebounded into the path of Mata, who was left to tap into an empty net. Any hopes of a comeback then looked to be dashed midway through the second period as United scored twice in five minutes, Rooney nodding in Anthony Martial's miscued shot before Ibrahimovic's stinging effort from 25 yards evaded Boruc's outstretched hand and nestled in the bottom corner. As Ibrahimovic turned to celebrate with Mourinho, Bournemouth appeared in danger of a demolition but instead they quickly grabbed a goal back as substitute Lewis Grabban played in Smith and the full-back showed great composure to turn and drill the ball into the top corner. It staved off United's goal glut but there was to be no late drama. The jubilant visiting fans were left disappointed as they begged Mourinho for a late celebratory wave. The Portuguese knows there is still much work to be done.
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Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here. ![]() |
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