Rodgers hails Suarez finishing

Suarez scored a memorable treble at Carrow Road last season and he repeated the feat as he almost single-handedly tore Norwich apart in a 5-2 win for the Merseyside outfit.

The Uruguayan opened the scoring from the edge of the box after just 67 seconds and made amends for missing a one-on-one chance by robbing Michael Turner and slotting past John Ruddy to make it 2-0.

Suarez unselfishly played in Nuri Sahin for Liverpool's third after the break before he completed his hat-trick with a superb curling effort from 18 yards just before the hour.

"His goals here were incredible last year and this was another masterclass in finishing apart from the one on one chance," Rodgers said.

"His first goal was terrific. The second one typifies him because he missed his easiest chance he had, but he didn't get disappointed, won back the ball, nutmegged the defender with an incredible piece of skill and then to finish the way he did was brilliant.

"It was a special day for him and the team."

Steven Gerrard completed the rout with a deflected effort and Norwich was booed off at half-time and full-time despite consolation goals from Grant Holt and Steve Morison.

A debate has surrounded whether Suarez goes down too easily pretty much since he arrived in England from Ajax in January 2011.

The forward was booked for simulation against Sunderland even though replays showed he had been fouled and last week he was denied a penalty against Manchester United when he appeared to be taken out by Jonny Evans.

Those calls had infuriated Rodgers to the extent that he called referees' chief Mike Riley to complain that the Reds were not getting the decisions they deserved.

The issue reared its head again in the first half when Leon Barnett barged into the back of Suarez in the box and also brought his elbow down on the player's shoulder.

Referee Mike Jones did not award the penalty, much to the disappointment of Rodgers.

"It was a stonewall penalty," he said. "I feel for the guy (Suarez), I really do. Everyone in the ground knew it was a penalty.

"Antonio Valencia last week got a penalty against us and there was barely any contact.

"Today the young guy Barnett elbowed (Suarez) in the head and gave him a wee nudge just to make sure, but (Jones) still didn't give it.

"If Luis is a player who goes down too easily he would have done so in the second half when a defender caught him just before the fourth goal.

"Maybe one day we will get the decision. Until that point we just continue to concentrate on our performance."

The victory was Rodgers' first in the Premier League at the sixth attempt.

Norwich, on the other hand, is still searching for its first success under Chris Hughton.

The Canaries always looked destined for a hiding, and had it not been for Ruddy, the margin of victory could have been five or six.

Afterwards Hughton hit out at his defence's poor showing.

He said: "You cannot afford to give them the opportunities we gave them today and that is disappointing.

"We will make no excuses for today or for the points we have got so far this season.

"We are all still annoyed, disappointed and angry with the goals that we conceded because it doesn't matter who you are playing if you give the opposition those sorts of opportunities there's every chance you could lose."