Clinical finishing helps Liverpool to a five star victory

Carrow Road brought Liverpool more joy than they must have expected this weekend. The hosts were so open hearted and welcoming that they didn’t even bother defending. Suarez as usual enjoyed himself again, helping himself to a second hat-trick in as many matches at Carrow Road, and also provided for the fourth one. While this performance was about all things falling into place for Liverpool, they will have to make sure they can build on this victory, and carry forward this momentum on to their next matches.

Norwich on the other hand didn’t do themselves any favor, the rot started as early as the 67th second and it could have been more had Liverpool at times not been wasteful and after the fifth goal, Liverpool took their foot of the pedal. While time and again this season Norwich have put in the hard work, this time around, their vulnerabilities were ruthlessly exposed. The midfield was non- existent as Liverpool cut past their defense with ease hitherto unseen. If not for the referee’s leniency, Norwich could have had a man down as well.

Sahin once again was brilliant as was Sterling, the youngster growing by leaps and bounds with every passing game. Liverpool chose to field Suso and Wisdom, and it was one of the youngest teams of Liverpool in a while. Gerrard and Allen continued their partnership, and the former was rewarded with a goal as well, which was the final goal by Liverpool. Norwich scored through Morrison and Holt, the Morrison goal coming off a spill by Reina, while Holt took full advantage of a mistake by Skrtel, followed by a splendid finish.

It has been said time and again, that Suarez is a bit theatrical, but in the 22nd minute of the game, as Suarez went down under the challenge of the Norwich defender, the referee waved play on and a clear penalty was denied. While players are advised to play every opponent on their merit and be judged on their respective challenges and tackles, it seems that the referee’s have chosen to judge Suarez on the basis of his past misdeeds. The instances of the denied penalty against Manchester United and the one against Norwich were such clear examples. While the decision against Norwich didn’t have much effect on the result, the decision against Manchester could have been crucial.

With the exception of a clean sheet, and the slacking off in the last quarter, Liverpool will not have too many issues to worry about. Norwich though will have to worry about from where the goals are going to come from. While both teams had their issues before the games, Rodgers will feel he has solved most of them, but Norwich hope this defeat is not the beginning of their down slide, with fixtures against Chelsea and Arsenal coming up. And after a testy run of fixtures, Liverpool will now hope to stabilize and make their way up the table.