Liverpool and Arsenal produced a memorable seven-goal thriller on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, with the visitors eventually running out 4-3 winners at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon.
Theo Walcott had given the Gunners the lead moments after missing a penalty, but a second-half blitz from Jurgen Klopp's side put the Reds in control before they held off a comeback to make a winning start to the new campaign.
The hosts went into the match with a makeshift starting XI that included youngsters Calum Chambers and Rob Holding as their centre-back partnership, but they quickly settled into the match and enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the opening stages.
A slick passing move down the left flank brought their first shooting opportunity too as Aaron Ramsey, fresh from helping Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016, stabbed an effort goalwards, but the angle was against him and Simon Mignolet made the save.
Petr Cech endured a difficult debut on the opening day of last season, but the Arsenal keeper got off to a more comfortable start this time around when he kept out Nathaniel Clyne's low drive.
Clear chances were few and far between in the opening half-hour, though, with an ambitious Ramsey strike from range and blocked Roberto Firmino effort all either side could muster before the first major talking point arrived.
It was the Gunners who were gifted the chance to break the deadlock when Alberto Moreno's rash challenge on Walcott gave referee Michael Oliver little choice but to point to the spot, although Walcott himself then saw his penalty kept out by Mignolet.
Redemption took just 68 seconds to arrive for the Arsenal winger, though, as he was left unmarked by Moreno to collect the ball and pick out the bottom far corner with a low strike across the goal.
It was a deserved lead for the Gunners, but Liverpool soon began to enjoy more of the ball and saw Firmino drag one effort wide before Cech was needed to keep out debutant Georginio Wijnaldum.
Just as it looked as though Arsenal would go into the break ahead, Liverpool levelled things up in first-half stoppage time through a stunning strike from Philippe Coutinho, who curled an inch-perfect free kick into the corner.
That proved to be the start of a Liverpool blitz, and they picked up where they left off in the second half by taking the lead just four minutes after the restart.
This time it was Adam Lallana who got the goal, chesting down Wijnaldum's cross before cleverly controlling his finish past the onrushing Cech.
Coutinho was also involved in the build-up to that goal, and the Brazilian soon doubled his personal tally with a clever finish from Clyne's drilled cross following a fine team move from the visitors.
Liverpool had turned the game on its head inside the space of 10 minutes, and they almost added a fourth shortly before the hour mark when Cech pulled off a good reaction save to deny Coutinho his hat-trick, while Hector Bellerin did just enough to deny Lallana from the rebound.
It was only a temporary reprieve for the hosts, though, and Klopp's side appeared to have wrapped up the win when Sadio Mane marked his competitive debut with a standout solo effort, beating two Arsenal defenders before picking out the top corner with his finish.
The fans began to vent their frustration at Arsene Wenger, but those jeers soon turned to cheers as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain responded immediately, cutting the deficit back to two with a smart solo effort of his own.
That gave the home side a glimmer of hope, and the prospect of a memorable comeback grew even more likely when Chambers glanced a header into the far corner with only 15 minutes remaining to continue the topsy-turvy second half.
The Gunners fell just short of dragging themselves back into the match, though, and it was Liverpool who came closest to adding the game's eighth goal when first Firmino slammed a powerful effort into the side-netting before Jordan Henderson's deflected shot looped over.
The visitors held out for the three points, though, claiming just their second away victory over Arsenal in their last 21 visits.
The hosts, meanwhile, have now lost three of their last four opening-day home games and left the field to the sound of boos from the Arsenal fans.
