The referees are still against him, but it really didn’t matter to Luis Suarez, who scored a fantastic hat trick and added an assist as Liverpool won their first Premier League match of the season in a highly entertaining encounter at Carrow Road, beating Norwich 5-2.
Suso and Nuri Sahin got a place in the lineup, partially due to suspensions and injuries; but it’s also because of their ability in the league cup win over West Brom. Liverpool scored early, which is very unlike them this season, and it was smooth cruising from that moment.
The big winner and the happiest man on the pitch was Luis Suarez, who had a perfect match. He had a fantastic match at Carrow road last season, including a goal from nearly 50 meters out. This time it was all from close range, but his ability to deal with defenders in close quarters, his finishing ability and his passing skills all combined for the first time this season. John Ruddy had no defense what so ever, not for the first time this season, eventually picking up the 13th ball from his net this season.
Steven Gerrard had much more freedom up front to play closer to Suarez, with Suso helping in the middle to Joe Allen and Nuri Sahin, making the absence of a natural defensive midfielder being less than meaningful for the first time. Luis Suarez should have been awarded at least one penalty, but it seems that unless someone punches him in the box infront of the referee, there’s no chance he’ll win a penalty.
Luckily for him, he didn’t need to. There wasn’t much combination between him and his teammates on the goal. All on individual ability; all proof of his class as a striker and a finisher. Even the fourth goal could have been his, but after his first attempt to score failed, he easily picked out a wide open Sahin, scoring his second consecutive goal and first in the Premier League for Liverpool. Steven Gerrard, in a very good match, enjoyed a lucky bounce off a Norwich leg to score his second consecutive goal this season.
There’s no doubt that the confidence will be high at Anfield this week, with the Europa League to buffer their Premier League matches this week. Brendan Rodgers may have finally found the winning formula for his struggling team, but it pretty much rests on the ability of Luis Suarez to do things on his own. Better than before, but still not the kind of all-around excellent effort he’d like to see, but when you win 5-2, who’s complaining.