An Aaron Ramsey own-goal and a Luis Suarez strike handed Liverpool a 2-0 victory over 10-man Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The game looked headed for a goalless draw before debutant Emmanuel Frimpong's 70th-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence triggered two late goals for the Reds.
The deadlock was finally broken with 11 minutes to play and it was Liverpool's substitutes who combined with an unfortunate deflection gifting the visitors the lead.
Substitutes Raul Meireles and Suarez linked up inside the area but as Ignasi Miquel - who had replaced the injured Laurent Koscielny early in the game - tried to clear the ball it struck Aaron Ramsey and looped over stranded goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the Arsenal goal.
If the Gunners were hard done by it soon got worse in the last minute of regular time
Suarez doubled the visitors' lead with a tap in from seven yards following Meireles' perfectly-timed ball across the penalty box.
Earlier Andy Carroll had Liverpool's best chance in the first half to open the scoring with a well-timed header while Robin van Persie could not finish a close-range chance in the second half.
Frimpong endured a forgettable debut with a red card after coming in for his first match, as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was forced to hand another debut to Carl Jenkinson while Manchester City target Samir Nasri also started.
Both sides started tentatively with the best chance in the first 10 minutes falling to Gunner Andrey Arshavin, but the forward was unable to steady himself and badly miscued his shot.
Arsenal's injury woes were worsened in the 14th minute as Koscielny broke down with a lower back problem.
The French defender was unable to continue and was replaced by young Spaniard Miquel for his Premier League debut.
That took the number of Arsenal debutants in the match to three and signalled a glorious chance for the travelling Reds.
When Frimpong was given his marching orders on 70 minutes for a stud up challenge on Lucas Leiva, Liverpool stepped up a gear and stole all three points through Ramsey's unfortunate own goal and Suarez's last minute tap-in.