Five Star Reds sink Canaries

Liverpool claimed a resounding 5-2 victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road yesterday afternoon to clinch their first Premier League win of the season in East Anglia. Luis Suarez was the star of the show, as the Uruguyuan silenced a hostile crowd with an accomplished hat-trick, repeating the feat he achieved at the same ground last season.

Nuri Sahin also added to the two goals he bagged at the Hawthorns in midweek, while skipper Steven Gerrard rounded off the scoring. Goals from Morrison and Holt provided little solace for the hosts, as they continue to struggle with second season syndrome, although they did frustratingly prevent the Reds finally keeping a clean sheet.

Trusting in youth yet again, Rodgers handed Wisdom and Suso their first starts in the Premier League after both displayed their burgeoning talent against Young Boys in the Europa League and West Bromich Albion in the Capital One cup. Raheem Sterling also started in the visitors' exciting front three, while Sahin, Gerrard and Allen dominated the centre of midfield.

The Reds began brightly and never looked back. Barely two minutes in, Suarez cut inside and arrowed into the bottom corner of Ruddy's net to round off a passing move involving Sterling, Allen, Johnson and Sahin that must have delighted boss Brendan Rodgers, whose side are beginning to reap the rewards of his pass and move philosophy.

Suarez celebrates opening the scoring early on at Carrow Road

After Reina saved Simeon Jackson's six-yard shot, Suarez was at the heart of the action once again midway through the half. The number seven was clearly felled inside the penalty area by a sharp elbow to the shoulder from Leon Barnett, whose clumsy challenge certainly warranted a spot kick and booking. However, referee Mike Jones waved away all appeals, with Suarez's admittedly deserved reputation as a diver undoubtedly influencing the decision. It was a classic case of the boy who cried "wolf"!

On the half hour mark, Suso fed Suarez, who clipped a superb pass into the path of the forward-thinking Gerrard. His header forced Ruddy to make a decent save and push the England international's effort away from danger. Suarez was then sent through on goal himself soon after, but his poor side-footed finish rolled annoyingly wide, much to the delight of the home supporters, who aimed the usual abuse in his direction throughout the 90 minutes.

He offered the perfect riposte to the crowd's insults literally seconds later, though, as he pounced on the indecisive Turner to steal possession before curling past Ruddy with an exquisite effort with the outside of his right foot. It was the sort of lethal finishing that Suarez has failed to produce so far this season and that the Reds have desperately needed in front of goal.

Norwich went ludicrously close to halving the deficit moments after the restart when Surman smashed the ball goalwards but Snodgrass inadvertently deflected his effort over the bar as he attempted to turn it home from close range. The hosts' failure to convert a golden goalscoring opportunity was punished ruthlessly a minute later, as Suarez slalomed down the right, remained on his feet when he could have gone to ground under a tackle and, at the second time of asking, found Sahin, who stroked home from yards out.

A delighted Sahin wheels away in celebration

The Turk was also involved in the Merseysiders' fourth ten minutes later, as Suarez swept the ball past Ruddy from the edge of the box after receiving his pass. Although Morrison fired into the bottom corner of Reina's net to reduce the arrears on the hour mark, the Reds remained firmly in the ascendancy and the likelihood of a remarkable comeback from the Canaries was very small.

That possibility was diminished further when Gerrard clinched a fifth, firing low into the middle of the goal after fine work from Sterling down the right wing. There was still time for substitute Grant Holt to whip the ball past Reina and into the net to make it 5-2, but that didn't stop the home supporters booing their team off the pitch at full time. 

They, like everyone else, knew that the post-match statistics painted a misleading picture. Although both teams enjoyed 50% of possession and had 10 shots and five corners, it was clear that the contest was nowhere near as even as those stats suggest. Liverpool dominated from start to finish, playing some magnificent football and finally finding their shooting boots. 

If they keep up this form then they should start to shoot up the table.

YNWA