Liverpool held on to beat Arsenal in a stunning Premier League opening-weekend encounter at Emirates Stadium. Theo Walcott fired in the first goal for the Gunners in the 31st minute, moments after missing a penalty. Philippe Coutinho equalised with a brilliant free-kick before Adam Lallana fired in after the break. Coutinho poked in his second and Sadio Mane slammed home, before Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a great solo goal and Calum Chambers headed in. It was billed as the best game of the Premier League opening weekend and more than lived up to expectations.

After quite a dour 30 minutes, Alberto Moreno’s second defensive mistake lit the flame for the encounter that followed. It was the second half that will long live in the memory. Four of the five goals were exceptional. There was Lallana’s chest control and strike followed by a 19-pass move finished off by Coutinho. Mane then capped off an impressive debut with a goal reminiscent of his strikes at Southampton – driving at the defence before a fierce finish. And substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain then produced a delightful cameo when he dazzled the Liverpool backline and then slotted past Simon Mignolet. Chambers’ header left Liverpool wondering whether a great win would become ‘what could have been’ – but they hung on.

Gunners deserved some plaudits for the character they displayed. At 4-1 down, things looked pretty bleak and the fans were on their backs, but they responded pretty well. They did not pull it back to 4-4 but they made the scoreline respectable, rather than it being an embarrassment. Watching Arsene Wenger in these last few seasons has been like watching an old man who thinks he can still do all the newfangled dance moves. Our lack of preparation is why we lost. Lack of transfer activity. Poor tactics. It’s ground hogs day, again. No one can or should defend Wenger now. Had weeks to bring in a defender and an attacker. He is incompetent. Wenger doesn’t attack the market he sits and waits for cast offs from the elites.

Is the board daft? Is Wenger senile? Do they even care? We saw fans throwing programmes onto the pitch, fans walking out, fans singing “spend some fucking money” wheres your “One Arsene Wenger” chant now. He deserves every bit of abuse he is getting now, at the ground, at the games on the internet. And that board who just kisses his balls and play along. You can’t compete in this era, get the fuck out!