Liverpool survive Norwich scare to go five points clear

Liverpool beat Norwich City 3-2 at Carrow Road with a brace from Raheem Sterling and Luis Suarez’s 30th goal of the season

Luis Suarez's 30th goal of the season and Raheem Sterling's brace sees Liverpool move five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
Luis Suarez's 30th goal of the season and Raheem Sterling's brace sees Liverpool move five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

A Raheem Sterling brace and Luis Suarez’s 30th league goal of the season saw title-chasers Liverpool move five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a narrow 3-2 win over struggling Norwich at Carrow Road.

Raheem Sterling opened the scoring within five minutes of the kick-off with an unstoppable 25 yard screamer in the top corner, then Luis Suarez, who is the clear favourite to be crowned PFA Player of the Year, doubled Liverpool’s advantage on 11 minutes with a smart side foot finish.

However, a clanger by Simon Mignolet gave Norwich hope as Gary Hooper tucked into an empty net. Liverpool, whose leaky defence this season has been their only negative, were put under pressure but quickly regained their two-goal advantage when Raheem Sterling scored his second of the game and Liverpool’s third.

Buoyed by his 25 yard screamer earlier, Sterling’s second was far from pretty as his deflected shot looped off Bradley Johnson and went past the stranded John Ruddy.

The home side refused to give up, and they made it a nail-biting final 13 minutes for Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers when Robert Snodgrass beat Jon Flanagan in the air to finish Martin Olsson’s left-wing cross to make it 3-2.

Liverpool’s 11th consecutive Premier League win – a new club record – put them firmly in the driving seat for a first title in 24 years, and moves them five points clear of second-placed Chelsea ahead of next Sunday’s six-pointer between the two sides at Anfield.

Meanwhile, the result leaves Norwich City a mountain to climb to ensure their Premier League survival for next season. The loss, the second one in a row for new manager Neil Adams, leaves the Canaries two points above the relegation zone with three games to go.

Norwich’s next matches will see them lock horns against Manchester United, title-chasing Chelsea, and Champions-League chasing Arsenal. On the other hand, table-topping Liverpool face Chelsea next week, before making the tricky trip to Selhurst Park to face Tony Pulis’s high-flying Crystal Palace. Liverpool’s last match will see them host Newcastle United at Anfield.