Reds cruise past the Canaries as Suarez bends it like Beckham

Luis Suarez scored his first hat trick in that famous Red shirt as Liverpool finally returned to winning ways at Norwich City's Carrow Road on Saturday teatime. The controversial Uruguayan brought the game to life with two sensational strikes in quick succession after a quiet opening, before his stunning effort from just inside the Canaries' half rounded off a comfortable victory ten minutes from time for the visitors, who were never seriously tested by their hosts.

Kenny Dalglish made five changes to the side that was humbled by West Bromich Albion at Anfield last time out, as skipper Steven Gerrard returned to the centre of midfield alongside Jonjo Shelvey. Meanwhile, Welshman Craig Bellamy was afforded a rare start alongside Luis Suarez up front and Jamie Carragher replaced Martin Skrtel at the heart of the Reds' defence.

With Norwich comfortably positioned in mid-table and Liverpool's sole aim in the League being overtaking neighbours Everton, the opening stages reflected the fact that neither side had much to play for. A good clearance from Carragher was required at one point, but apart from that there was little to get excited about.

Until 24 minutes in, when Gerrard and Suarez combined to spark the game into life. The former stalked David Fox vigilantly, pouncing on his prey at the perfect moment to steal possession and feed Suarez, whose clinical strike from the edge of the box curled past the helpless Ruddy and into the net.

The pair combined again a minute later, Suarez nutmegging Ward and crossing to Gerrard, who hammered goalwards but saw Elliott Bennett make a crucial block. Nevertheless, it didn't take long for the Reds to double their lead, as talismanic centre forward Luis Suarez found the back of the net for a second time. Another skilful nutmeg took the number seven past Ward and, powering down the right wing; he looked up momentarily before firing emphatically past Ruddy and into the bottom right hand corner.

It was simply a super solo effort from Suarez, who responded to the boos and jeers he received from the natives in the perfect fashion.

After that brief spell of exciting goalmouth action, the match strangely returned to the end of season tempo that had characterised the earlier stages. However, after the interval Norwich came into the game a bit more and threatened Reina's goal on occasion. Five minutes after the restart Bennett's swerving drive from 25 yards out called the Spanish stopper into action, before Bradley Johnson nodded over from Pilkington's resulting corner kick.

In response, Shelvey squandered two gilt-edged goalscoring opportunities. First, he concluded a fantastic free flowing move by disappointingly heading against the cross bar from only a few yards out. Then, Enrique whipped a brilliant ball into the box but the former Charlton midfielder somehow contrived to miss the target altogether when it was easier to score.

Before James Vaughan shot and headed wide of goal, Suarez had his first unsuccessful attempt at completing his hattrick. The Merseysiders' top scorer broke through on goal and tried to dink the ball over the keeper but unfortunately his effort ended up on the roof of Ruddy's net. After the 23-year old former Everton striker had failed to get his new side back into the contest, Suarez netted his third with an effort that will last long in the memory of those who witnessed it.

Spotting Ruddy off his line, Suarez spectacularly lobbed the despairing keeper from all of 40 yards.

It was a unbelievably good goal from Suarez, which was reminiscent of David Beckham's similarly superb strike at Wimbeldon in 1996.

After the match, Suarez inevitable and deservedly received the plaudits for an excellent individual display that lit up an otherwise unremarkable evening of Premier League football. He is now likely to be wrapped up in proverbial cotton wool, ready to be released against Chelsea in next weekend's FA Cup final.

For once, Liverpool didn't pepper the opposition's goal with shots on target. However, the Reds did dominate the game, claiming a sizeable 61% of possession and crucially taking the relatively few chances they created. It is no doubt preferable to create a few goalscoring opportunities and convert them, then craft countless chances yet fail to find the back of the net, as Kenny's men have done far too frequently this season.

If we can replicate this display in our remaining fixtures then we should achieve our twin aims of finishing above Everton and clinching our second domestic cup of the campaign.

YNWA