Norwich Goals: Steve Morison (61), Grant Holt (87)
Liverpool Goals: Luis Suárez (2, 38, 57), Nuri Sahin (47) Steven Gerrard (68)
A league victory, at last. With the fixture list the way it had been, everything appeared to have been building to this point and the team did not let anyone down. It's far too early to get carried away with anything - much as it had been to write off the entire season after disappointing results prior - so for the time being everyone should do nothing more than savour the feeling of having three points in the bag. It hasn't happened all that often recently.
Barring the inclusion of Andre Wisdom, Brendan Rodgers' set up was always going to be relatively straightforward. The eighteen year old defender joined Suso in making their Premier League debuts. These were changes that were made necessary through injury but we were buoyed by the news that Daniel Agger had recovered enough to take his place in the starting line up. Having our best defender (and a very good footballer at that) available was going to make things a lot easier. The game got even more straightforward with a goal just over sixty seconds into the game. Norwich had barely had a kick when Glen Johnson went down the left wing. His ball into Nuri Sahin was cut out but fell to Luis Suarez on the edge of the box who then steadied himself and put the ball beyond John Ruddy in goal. In a game we needed to win it was the best possible start.Early goals do wonders for confidence and right now this team is overflowing with it. Nuri Sahin carried on from where he left off against West Brom with two brilliant pieces of skill in succession the second of which was a ball into the box that Daniel Agger could have scored from. Of all the established internationals on show however it was Suso that looked by far the brightest. After the impact and introduction of Raheem Sterling, to see another of the academy players come into the team and look this good is enough to make you salivate over the future let alone feel good about it. He had the appearance of having been playing football in this team and for a few years and belied his inexperience at this level. A mention must go out to Suso's first touch on the edge of the box after five minutes had been played. It's one of the best pieces of control I've ever seen.
Seven minutes in and Chris Hughton's were finally getting a chance to play with the football. Their first real attack of the game could easily have provided the equaliser too, with Simeon Jackson getting a head to an overhit cross and forcing Pepe Reina into a very good save low down at his near post. Other than that we were very much in control of proceedings and what the goal allowed was that we could pick our passes and force Norwich to play the kind of game that we wanted them to play. Glen Johnson was doing a good job of getting forward as often as possible even so early on in the game with a goal advantage. It's this kind of relentless pressure that forces opponents into eventually folding, as they get tired of the constant barrage of pressure. Exactly what Brendan Rodgers' will have wanted to see.
Though our opponents were starting to play it around they were having to do so under great duress as we pressed them. There was not even the slightest application of pressure however as every time they did manage to get the ball into the final third an errant pass would relieve the situation and allow us to start again. On the break we look like a team that will do some serious damage at times and it was good to see Suarez and Suso linking up very well together. He's had so many different kind of players alongside him as of late and so it's a measure of Luis' quality that he appears to be able to read and connect with each and every one of them. On the attack, there was a definite menace about our play. We just needed the clear cut chances to go along with it.
There will have a lot to please the manager in the opening twenty minutes of the game but we weren't quite as protective of the ball as we have been in recent games. Part of this is to do with the fact that Norwich in spite of the way the game had started and how shell shocked they had been for a large majority of it were still game in that they wanted to get back at us. The opportunity to put the game at least somewhat behind them appeared to have arrived when Luis Suarez was manhandled in the penalty area. That word alone doesn't begin to put into context what actually happened, as Leon Barnett's elbow, foot and stomach all made contact with Suarez at different times. It looked for all the world like a spot kick was the only conclusion. Unfortunately the referee had seemingly already came to one prior to kick off. Anything that happens to Luis Suarez is fair game.
From having been denied the chance to go further ahead, at the other end Jackson again missed a great opening to level it up. Javier Garrido found space and was released down the left hand side. His cross into the box was headed back across into space by Martin where Jackson was waiting. Much to the relief of Pepe Reina, the subsequent shot ended up well over. In the few minutes that followed this effort, there was a conscious slowing down of the play from Liverpool as we passed the ball around between ourselves and tried to take Norwich out of the game once more.
One of the worries prior to the season getting under way - and of this style of play in general - was that there would be times where we'd be playing the possession game but not really doing anything with it. On the evidence of today this was a side who would struggle to be stopped by many defences. They had two fairly rigid lines of defenders and midfielders behind the ball whenever we probed in and around the final third but there was a real arrogance about the football being played. It was as if the whole side as one has bought into the idea that if we stick to what we know, the chances will come. That's a massive show of faith in the way the manager wants things done and also a sign of real resolve. Things haven't been going all too well recently and this was a counterbalance to all that. With the belief already in place, once the results start to come we'll be very hard to stop.
It wasn't just Suso who was adapting to life in the Premier League so well. Wisdom had been playing exactly the kind of game you would have expected from him. Solid, dependable, composed and not afraid to get stuck in. One instance left him needing treatment after bravely sticking his head in the way of a Norwich boot in an attempt to get it clear. While he was off the pitch it was Steven Gerrard who filled in at right back with Sahin and Allen still snapping away at anything that came near them. Such is the fluidity in this team right now that when Wisdom came back onto the pitch it was only seconds later that Gerrard nearly scored. Suarez's looping ball was met by the head of the Liverpool skipper who had ghosted in all the way from the back and then saved well by the Norwich goalkeeper. From one goalkeeper to the other, Reina made an even better save a few minutes later - having been wrong-footed by a deflection from Simeon Jackson - only for the offside flag to be raised. It was one of those that the keeper could have known nothing about and in spite of the fact that it wouldn't have counted will still have given Pepe some confidence for having blocked it in the first place.
If the first goal was a sucker punch to start the game, then Suarez was about to deliver the knock-out blow. When there's just one goal in the game Norwich would always have a chance and our play and so it was important that we got the second which our overall play had merited. It could quite easily be said that this could typifies Luis' Liverpool career to date. Daniel Agger burst from defence into midfield and beyond with the ball and magnificently split the defence. One on one with Ruddy now, it looked like a goal was certain only Suarez just managed to curl it wide. What happened immediately after that was the goal-kick was played short. The defender played it inside and a momentary lapse in concentration was pounced upon. Suarez won the ball back, played it through Turner's legs and then curled it into the corner of the net. The home crowd had gone from laughing at his initial miss to slumped in their seats. The travelling Kop just couldn't get enough.
A talented forward is a dangerous player. One who has work-rate on top of that can be absolutely deadly. Suarez is one of those players who even on his off days never gives the opposition a moments peace. Moments after scoring he was scythed down, earning Barnett a yellow card in the process. He then was inches from getting onto the end of a back header and flagged just offside right as Turner slipped. The defence was having a nightmare in trying to deal with the little Uruguayan and did well to gather their composure enough so that the game wasn't completely dead and buried at half time.
Defensively the task was very simple and we wanted to see out what remained of the half. As you'd expect Norwich did apply some pressure in the form of a few corners but a combination of our organisation and their poor delivery into the box meant that nothing really came of it. The one real chance they had to get at Reina came from a mistake on our part but Wisdom was back to cover and clear it out for a throw. Having had so much adversity to come through so far this season, it was both a relief and a joy then to be going in at half time with a two goal cushion.
As you would expect, Norwich began the half looking to get in our faces as early as possible. Grant Holt had been brought on for Simeon Jackson and the created a chance almost straight from kick off. Morrison's cross was hit across goal by Andrew Surman and hit Robert Snodgrass virtually on the line. Quite how the ball went over the bar I'm not sure but it was a let off nonetheless. It was to be a costly miss as much like in the first half, it didn't take long for us to find the back of the net. Sterling gave it to Suarez on a counter attack and although his first attempt at a cross was blocked there was still enough composure there to enable him to regather it and lay it back to Nuri Sahin for his third goal in just over a game and half. It had looked dire for Hughton's men at half time. Now it looked impossible.
With nothing to lose, to their credit Norwich did still try to pose a threat. There was a little space in between the midfield allowed a chance to be created over the top for Holt, who really should have done better. Defensively we were completely at ease with them whereas on the front foot it was almost constant bombardment. Back and forth the game swung between both teams trying to carve out further opportunities but all the quality was with the away side and we looked like scoring at any given opportunity. They were very direct and throwing men forward now, creating half chances in small doses before we'd counter them and virtually cut them to shreds. A fourth goal was on the cards and it was so very casual and relaxed in it's build up. Simple passes and movements as it went from right to the centre, with Sterling giving it to Sahin and then on to Suarez on the edge of the box. He took one touch to line it up and then passed it with some accuracy beyond Ruddy to complete his hat trick. Having scored six in his last two here, Luis Suarez may want to play at Carrow Road every week.
With our superiority being reflected by the scoreline it was a chance for Rodgers to make a few changes and give some players a breather. Assaidi came on for Suso who hadn't been anywhere near as bright as he was in the first half but it was still one of the most assured debuts that I can remember for a very long time. Moments after this change was made the home side finally had something to cheer about, and yet again it was a goal created almost exclusively by a Liverpool player. There were two errors that led to another clean sheet being spoiled, both by Pepe Reina. His distribution following a half chance for Norwich was poor and allowed them to come right back at us. I can actually let him of for his attempted parry of Martin's shot which was straight at him but very powerful - having said that he should have done better - but it was so unnecessary to have been given the ball away in the first place. Once it had been punched right back out, Steve Morrison pounced to put it into the net and at the very least get his own season up and running. Reina may be wondering when he'll be able to do the same.
So much time remained on the clock that even though the comeback from Norwich was highly improbable, it still needed some degree of professionalism on our part to make sure the door was firmly shut and they had no chance to get back in it. This is where the method really comes across and the way in which the players have adapted to it. Andre Wisdom was getting stuck in on the right hand side, bombing forward and linking up with Raheem Sterling. These are two players - one seventeen and the other making his first ever league start for the club - who epitomise what we could come to represent in the long term. It really is very hard to get carried away with things at the moment.
If there was one player and one area of the pitch we certainly didn't want the ball, having a backpass to Reina be chased down by three Norwich players wasn't the most ideal of sights. That's just the thing though. They'd by now pretty much abandoned all shape and were running on pure adrenaline alone, desperate for that one mistake or lucky break that would get the firmly back in the game. We were just playing simple balls between the goalkeeper, his two centre halves that had split and the holding midfielder who had come back to receive it. Under pressure though we might have been - right the way through the field - there was still enough confidence and ability to negate all their best efforts.
What remained of the game was played very much as a training ground exercise. Even at that, we still managed to outshine them in virtually every department. The patience and upping of the tempo as we went up through the gears was an absolute delight to see and looked to be creating chances for us at will with Gerrard putting Suarez through for what could easily have been his fourth. Jamie Carragher then came on to give the immaculate Glen Johnson a well earned rest as the game went into the last fifteen minutes. It's quite easy to look over just how good he is playing right now. We usually play well as a team when Johnson is at his best and he's such a better footballer than a lot of people give him credit for. To think that he can get even better for us when we've actually nailed a proper left back is something the opposition should be really quite frightened of.
The midfield axis that had been so important and looked very disjointed against Arsenal had been completely transformed. Sahin and Gerrard took turns going forward and moved well generally with both of them managing to get on the score-sheet and Nuri even managed to follow up his performance against West Brom by looking ever solid in his defensive duties. Behind them both was the ever tidy Joe Allen. You can tell that so much of what he does will go unnoticed by fans of pretty much every other club but it's a compliment that he goes about his work in such an unfussy manner and never seems to put a single foot wrong. As the game dwindled to it's inevitable conclusion, he was the one mopping it up at the back and making sure that there was no way in for Norwich. They were being toyed with somewhat as we passed it around nonchalantly almost as if this were a group of daydreaming footballers just waiting for something that would wake them up and send them into action. Of what action there was remaining there would be another goal. The home side having a second consolation goal of the afternoon.
Martin Skrtel missed a fairly straightforward ball over the top - perhaps with the sun in his eyes - and allowed Grant Holt to get on the end of it and place beyond Reina. Both goals were sloppy and will have frustrated both the players and manager but given the grievances we've had to endure against United and performances that haven't gotten the points that merited then this will be a minor irritation at best. Even as we entered the ninetieth minute and beyond, Luis Suarez was still harrying and chasing down lost causes which is something you know you will always get from the Uruguayan but still appreciated as a player who has already bagged a hat-trick could easily rest on his laurels. Full time and finally a league victory for Brendan Rodgers. Here's hoping it will be the first of many.
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