Liverpool Captain Hails the Performance of ‘Magician’ Luis Suarez

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has praised the performance of striker Luis Suarez in the 5-2 win over Norwich which earned the club its first league victory of the season.

Suarez has been criticised for wasting opportunities since joining Liverpool, but he proved his doubters wrong with a superb hat-trick which made him the first ever Reds player to score three goals in the same away league game in successive seasons.

"Luis has had two fantastic days at Norwich, he's a magician when he's on it and he certainly was today," Gerrard told the official Liverpool website.

"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."

The Uruguayan was at the heart of everything good against Norwich and Gerrard felt as though the victory was thoroughly deserved after having to respond to the bitterly disappointing loss at the hands of Manchester United last weekend.

"It was a comfortable win for us, we scored five good goals but the pleasing thing was we continued to play well. Sometimes when things are not going for you, you can start to feel sorry for yourself but we didn't do that and kept doing the right things and got the reward," added Gerrard.

"I said last week when we lost to Manchester United it was a strange feeling because we played really well and should have beaten them, so it was nice to play well again and win this weekend.

"We are passing the ball well and doing what the manager wants us to do which is pass the ball at a high tempo and it's enjoyable."

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers handed league debuts to Andre Wisdom and Suso, with both players excelling in the comfortable victory. Gerrard was particularly pleased with the performances of the teenagers.

Gerrard said: "A lot of people talk about the Academies and players coming through but you still need to have a manager who has the bottle and puts his neck on the line by giving them a chance, and the manager has done that from day one.

"He said to them from day one 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."