English Premier League: Suarez hat-trick keeps Liverpool on Arsenal’s tail

Liverpool striker scores first treble at Anfield as Reds thrash West Brom 4-1.

LONDON: Luis Suarez hit a clinical hat-trick as Liverpool thrashed West Bromwich Albion 4-1 at Anfield to keep pace with Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Suarez scored twice in five first-half minutes and again after the break to keep Liverpool two points behind Arsenal, who prevailed 2-0 at Crystal Palace in an early kick-off.

Suarez’s first home hat-trick for Liverpool and a brilliant effort by Daniel Sturridge underlined the Merseysiders top-four credentials this season and left manager Brendan Rodgers saluting what is becoming a lethal partnership.

“I think it was his first hat-trick here at Anfield and you saw his commitment to the team and what we’re trying to do,” said Rodgers. “It was a wonderful performance.

“Daniel Sturridge’s goal — you used to see goals like that here many years ago; top quality players scoring those types of goals, Kenny [Dalglish] and what not. That type of goal was incredible.”

Moyes revels in United’s dramatic fightback

David Moyes believes he has seen a glimpse of the old Manchester United after a dramatic late comeback secured a 3-2 win against Stoke.

United boss Moyes was in danger of suffering another dispiriting defeat in an already troubled start to his reign when Stoke took a shock 2-1 lead at half-time at Old Trafford on Saturday.

But United claimed a 78th minute equaliser from Wayne Rooney before substitute Javier Hernandez, whom Stoke manager Mark Hughes claimed should have been sent off before his heroics, won the match two minutes later in a manner that recalled so many famous victories under Moyes’ predecessor Alex Ferguson.

“I thought in the end we had to go for it,” said Moyes. “We did a lot of good things but an awful lot of real poor things that put us in the situation we were in.

“Some of the play we had was very good but it wasn’t leading to any goals.

“I thought inside the ground with 15-20 minutes to go, the supporters were terrific, they drove the team on and played a big part in getting the result.

“Of course they were a little disappointed. They wanted to see their team win, maybe more convincingly, but they’ve had a lot of games like that here in the past.

“It was very good, very exciting. I really enjoyed it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2013.

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