By ADAM TROXTELL

Just as Liverpool looked destined to start its English Premier League season with a scoreless draw, Coutinho intervened.

The Brazilian attacker unleashed an early candidate for goal of the season in the 86th minute to secure a 1-0 win against Stoke on Sunday. Both teams had spent most of the afternoon looking to create a chance like the one Coutinho got, though Liverpool did put six shots on target and tested Stoke’s Jack Butland on a few occasions.

New Reds’ striker Christian Benteke looks to still be gelling with his teammates, while Stoke winger Ibrahim Afellay was restricted to a few moments of flair outside of the box.

As the game approached its conclusion, Coutinho broke free going forward. With enough space from about 23 yards out, he delivered a right-footed shot that Butland could only get a few fingers to before it settled into the back of the net.

Elsewhere, Arsenal’s start to the Premier League was less impressive in a loss to London rivals West Ham. In France, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne’s quests for top Ligue 1 spots had stuttering starts.

Here is more from today’s action in Europe:

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Entering the season as title contenders to some, Arsenal’s opening performance did nothing to back up the hype.

The Gunners looked underwhelming as West Ham surged to a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium. Cheikhou Koyate’s header before halftime and a low finish from Mauro Zarate in the 57th minute gave the Hammers’ new coach Slaven Bilic the perfect start.

Petr Cech, acquired by Arsenal from Chelsea in a somewhat surprising summer transfer, was at least partly to blame for both goals. The Czech stopper raced out to try and punch a Dimitri Payet free kick in the 43rd minute, only to miss as Kouyate headed into an empty net.

With a halftime lead, West Ham went forward confidently to grab a second. Zarate stole the ball easily from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in Arsenal’s defensive third, and took a few touches before curling a shot into the bottom corner.

It wasn’t particularly quick, and there were some questions as to whether or not a goalkeeper of Cech’s stature should have been able to at least deflect the shot away. Nevertheless, West Ham cruised.

Elsewhere, Steve McClaren’s Newcastle tenure began with a 2-2 draw against Southampton. Shane Long headed in the equalizer for the Saints in the 79th minute.

Graziano Pelle picked up from where he left off last season to open the scoring for Southampton in the 24th minute. Papiss Cisse struck back for the hosts just before halftime, arriving at the back post to tap a deflected cross in from close range.

Newcastle’s summer signing Georgininio Wijnaldum handed them the lead three mintues after halftime by heading in Gabriel Obertan’s cross. But with about 10 minutes remaining, Dusan Tadic found space down the right and delivered the cross for Long to head into the left side of the net.

FRENCH LIGUE 1

Bourdeaux and Saint-Etienne both had leads diminished in a pair of defeats to start off their Ligue 1 campaigns.

Reims came back to defeat Bourdeux on the road, 2-1, by scoring twice in the final 10 minutes. Wahbi Khazri gave the hosts the lead in the 41st minute.

Nicolas De Preville struck back in the 80th minute, with Theoson Jordan Siebatcheu finding the winner eight minutes later.

Loic Perrin handed Saint-Etienne the lead even earlier, finding the net in the 17th minute. But an equalizer 10 minutes later and a Wissam Ben Yedder winner handed Toulouse a 2-1 win.