If ever there has been a footballer who was glad to see the back of Luis Suarez it must surely be John Ruddy.
The 35-year-old goalkeeper is in-between the sticks for Birmingham City these days, but he is something of a legendary figure in East Anglia after making 243 appearances for the Canaries over seven seasons. Unfortunately for him, that eventful period, which included two promotions to the Premier League and two relegations, coincided with Luis Suarez's time at Liverpool. The two would become very familiar with each other over three top flight seasons.
Suarez's first trip to Carrow Road arrived near the end of the 2011-12 season. The Reds secured a 3-0 win thanks to a Suarez hat-trick. But on this day in 2012 when Liverpool returned to Norwich the following season, Brendan Rodgers' side came away with a thumping 5-2 win and yet another treble from the Uruguayan. In achieving this feat, Suarez became the first Liverpool player to score three goals in the same away game in successive fixtures.
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The South American's first goal arrived as early as the second minute, when he collected a half clearance on the edge of the Norwich penalty area and made space for himself before stroking the ball into the corner of the net under the out-stretched arm of Ruddy. Suarez should have doubled his tally nine minutes before the break when a through ball from Daniel Agger put him one-v-one with Ruddy, but uncharacteristically, he could only side-foot his effort well wide.
The below-par attempt drew cheers from the home crowd who took great delight in taunting their tormentor for his miss. But retribution for his treatment was dished out literally seconds later. From the subsequent goal kick, a heavy touch from Michael Turner was pounced upon by Suarez who nut-megged the centre-back before bending the ball into the bottom left corner with the outside of his right foot.
The record-breaking hat-trick was complete inside the hour mark after Suarez was afforded far too much space on the edge of the box, allowing him to expertly curl the ball low into the corner of Ruddy's net. But before he had even completed his goal-scoring exploits for the day, Suarez turned provider early in the second half, supplying a square pass to Nuri Sahin for what would turn out to be the Turkish international's only Premier League goal for Liverpool.
"There are some strikers who do nothing all game and get one chance and finish. Luis isn't like that," said Rodgers after the match. "Luis is a complete footballer. He is clever in his technique, moves well in and around defenders and makes chances. For his three goals last year, he caught on to three mistakes and they were sublime finishes. This time they were more team goals and he finished them. We have created a lot of chances this season. Hopefully when he gets chances, he takes them."
It is little wonder that Rodgers was pleased with his striker. This was the Northern Irishman's first Premier League win as Liverpool manager at the sixth attempt. It arrived after Rodgers fielded the youngest Liverpool team in almost a decade, starting teenagers Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom and the Spaniard Suso. It was a policy that got the backing of captain Steven Gerrard, who scored the Reds' fifth on the day.
Gerrard said: "A lot of people talk about the academies and players coming through but you still need to have a manager who puts his neck on the line by giving them a chance, and the manager has done that from day one. He said to them if they showed the right attitude and application in training he would give them a chance and they are doing well. We have a good mix of youth and experience and we as senior players will help guide them and show them the right way."
The skipper added: "Luis has had two fantastic days at Norwich, he's a magician when he's on it and he certainly was today. He scored three, but could have easily have had five or six goals himself out there and should have had a penalty – that's how good his performance was."
Despite scoring three and setting up another, Suarez was extremely unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty against the Canaries with his reputation for going to ground too easily appearing to work against him in what was a blatant shove in the back. The Norwich fans gave Suarez plenty of stick from the stands - but he dished out plenty of his own.
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