“It was the wrong sign for all of us because it felt for everybody in this moment like “that’s it” but then you look at the watch and you see “oh there’s still half an hour to go, that’s not too good”.
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They went into the break level on terms with the Gunners after Philippe Coutinho’s marvellous long-range free-kick had cancelled out Theo Walcott’s opening goal.
Coutinho scored his second of the afternoon soon after, turning in from Nathaniel Clyne’s cross down the right, before Sadio Mane completed an incredible spell with a solo run and finish.
Englishman delighted with opening win Lallana wheels away after getting on the scoresheet and putting Liverpool in front. They have both been chucked in, brand new as a partnership and yes they struggled but I think everybody knew it was going to be a tough game for them’.
“We pushed players like Ramsey and he got injured again”, said Wenger.
“I knew it in the moment [I shouldn’t celebrate] but it was too late, I had Sadio on my back!”
“The defence in the last 10 mins, [needed] a bit more organisation and we had the opportunities for counter-attacks so there’s a lot to do”.
Lallana added: “If we want to achieve something special this year we have to be more disciplined defensively as a unit”.
He said how Klopp “wanted us to get up to the ball more” with “more pressing” and “more counter-pressing” and continued: “We came out of the traps flying in the second-half and got the second, third and fourth [goals]”.
Boos from the home crowd at the final whistle made clear the fans’ feelings about the performance, along with their unhappiness at a lack of high-profile signings by manager Arsene Wenger to strengthen a team that finished second behind surprise champion Leicester last season.
“That’s part of it and of course that’s not pleasant but we have shown in the past we have the mental strength to deal with that and bounce back”, he added.
“It’s not allowed that a manager celebrates a goal like this”.
Stung, Liverpool responded, Wijnaldum seeing a side-foot effort saved by Petr Cech, and in first-half stoppage time Coutinho netted the equaliser in memorable fashion.
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After the games, the German admitted he got carried away after the three points looked to have been all but secured.
