Philippe Coutinho’s long-range strike won the game for Liverpool late on Philippe Coutinho’s late wonder strike saw Liverpool exact revenge on Stoke with a 1-0 win at the Britannia Stadium. The match appeared to be drifting towards a goalless draw before Coutinho unleashed a dipping, curling effort from 25 yards out to hand the visitors an unlikely three points. And the win for Liverpool will have eased the pressure on Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers after the Reds lost 6-1 at Stoke on the final day of last season. The visitors began the game with five players who had featured in that drubbing back in May, while Rodgers also handed debuts to the likes of Christian Benteke, Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez and James Milner. Stoke boss Mark Hughes, on the other hand, gave first starts to former Barcelona attacker Ibrahim Afellay and defender Glen Johnson, against his old team, although BojanKrkic was not fit enough to feature as he continues his recovery from a serious knee injury. However, in stark contrast to last season’s goal fest at the Britannia, the opening period was stale and lacklustre as both teams made a cagey start to the contest, although Stoke will still have been disappointed not to have gone in ahead at the break