Topics: English Premier League, Liverpool, Philippe Coutinho, Brendan Rodgers, Stoke City
The goal broke a 0-0 scoreline just minutes ahead of the game ending. Rodgers claimed that he was about to get him off the field before the game started.

Brendan Rodgers was already thinking about substituting Philippe Coutinho but now he is glad he did not as the Brazilian scored the goal that has given Liverpool its first three points of the 2015-2016 English Premier League season. Coutinho's amazing strike from outside the box was well worth the wait for fans and Rodgers' himself.

"You have to keep him on the pitch as long as you can because he has that moment," Rodgers said at the end of the match.

Liverpool's manager admitted that the Brazilian striker was already in the list of possible players to be substituted by the end of the game. He was not predicting Coutinho to score and even less in the way that he did. 

"I am glad I kept him on but I can't profess to be any sort of genius. It was fortunate he got the goal and he stayed on," Rodgers added.

85 minutes into the game, nothing seemed to be really working for Rodgers and his team. They had tried to break the deadlock in a number of occasions but couldn't finish their chances. That was until Coutinho got the ball on the left side of the pitch and started moving towards the middle, got past Steve Sidwell and beat Jack Butland with a powerful shot from outside the 18-yard box.

WATCH: Rodgers praised Coutinho's goal 

Here is how the goal happened

Eleven weeks ago, Stoke City had wrapped up the 2014-2015 season with a 6-1 victory over the Reds. Liverpool was really hurting from that moment and couldn't wait to get back on the pitch for a rematch.

"I thought it was an outstanding collective performance. It certainly feels better than 11 weeks ago," the manager said.

The team did not lose a pre-season game over the summer. While many were guessing that Rodgers would be sacked from his position, today there seemed to be some progress from the version that Liverpool showcased last season. Today, Coutinho's goal has everybody talking and Liverpool fans really optimistic about the upcoming season.

The Brazilian striker became a trending topic on twitter