Philippe Coutinho's stunner breathes life into snoozefest as Liverpool tops Stoke City

Give us a goal, screamed the Stoke City faithful, as a dull and lifeless 0-0 match headed toward its conclusion. With five minutes to go, Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho answered that request with a rocket shot, giving the Reds a 1-0 win over Stoke at the Britannia Stadium in both team's 2015-16 Premier League opener.

Coutinho left Steve Sidwell chasing in his tracks with a nimble turn, and the Brazilian midfielder followed up that nifty trick with a cracker of a shot from long-range, beating goalkeeper Jack Butland and giving Liverpool a one-goal lead.

It came late, but Coutinho's goal was much-needed, since, for 85 minutes, it was an absolute snoozefest. The first half produced little by way of shots or dangerous opportunities, neither side testing the other team's goalkeeper and Christian Benteke barely getting a touch near the box.

Apart from an injury scare to Ibrahim Afellay, a series of yellow cards to opposition players brought the Stoke City faithful to life as the game seemed to pick up in the final 20 minutes of play, only to fall back into a lull soon after.

Roberto Firmino made his Liverpool debut with around 15 minutes to go, coming in for Jordon Ibe, who was exciting, if not ineffective, throughout the match. Stoke, trying to find a go-ahead goal, barely maintained a prolonged spell of possession. Stoke defender Glen Johnson looked lively on the right-hand side but couldn't find a tangible way of hurting his former team.

Coutinho's goal silenced the crowd at last as a rather ordinary-looking Liverpool held on for a 1-0 win. It's not an exact avenging of the 6-1 loss Liverpool suffered to Stoke last season, but Liverpool won't care as the Reds take home all three points at the final whistle.