Liverpool 2-2

Independent:

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2
Dependency on villains cripples Brendan Rodgers' aim

By IAN HERBERT

The really dangerous part of all this is the Luis Suarez dependency around here. It was Graeme Souness who observed tonight that Liverpool are “not blessed with a lot of world class players at this time” and the game which kept Chelsea's pursuit of a top four place in their own destiny, despite the concession of the late goal, bore that out.
There was nothing much more engaging than the choreography of Rafael Benitez's return, in the first half. The Kop waited fewer than two minutes to issue their first chant for him and it was unfortunate that a diplomatic, though notably less vocal, song for Rodgers was drowned out by the boos for Fernando Torres, the pantomime villain whose 'welcome to Anfield' encounter with Jamie Carragher was engaging. No-one could blame Liverpool's faithful for some sentimentality about Benitez since Ramires, Juan Mata and Oscar delivered a level of invention and pace entirely absent in the home side's over–elaborate system, which in the first half lacked any incision. Chelsea were worth their lead, attributable to Carragher allowing Oscar, the smallest man on the pitch, to pivot and head in from a corner - peeling away to the right edge of the penalty area before the defender could react, with no defender on the post to block the ball.
The extraordinary immediacy of Daniel Sturridge's impact, arriving in place of the ineffectual Phillippe Coutinho after half time, made a mockery of the prettified first half precision play, though the 23-year-old's place on the bench was actually a consequence of his own struggle to make inroads since his dynamic start to his Liverpool career in January. Sturridge had already bombed in from the right to send in Steven Gerrard against Petr Cech – the goalkeeper saved smartly with his foot – and spun away from Eden Hazard to strike a 30-yard shot against the post – before he seized on a beautiful one-touch Suarez lay-off to equalise.
Even then, the saint and sinner were there in the Uruguayan, who closed his eyes, raised a hand and conceded the penalty which Hazard converted, right-footed, to put Chelsea back ahead. For Rodgers, the only encouragement to take from another sorry afternoon was Sturridge's continual presence as a force. He deftly flicked back a ball which Jordan Henderson – for whom this was a fairly wretched afternoon – sent on for substitute Jonjo Shelvey to graze a post with. A criminal waste. It was also Sturridge who provided the well measured cross which Suarez headed in for the equaliser at the death.
Both goalscorers were the subject of controversy. Sturridge might have been dismissed for going in over the ball on Ryan Bertrand in a second half which grew increasingly ill-tempered. Rodgers was unhappy about Torres leading with his arm into a challenge on Carragher, in which he caught him in the face.
The game's footballing messages struggled to be heard.
But the overwhelming impression was how far these sides have fallen since Benitez waged battle with Jose Mourinho from the home dugout here.

Liverpool: REINA 6, JOHNSON 7, CARRAGHER 6, AGGER 6, ENRIQUE 6, GERRARD 6, HENDERSON 5, LUCAS 6, COUTINHO 5, SUAREZ 0, DOWNING 5

Chelsea: CECH 8, BERTRAND 6, IVANOVIC 6, LUIZ 5, AZPILICUETA 6, OSCAR 7, RAMIRES 7, MATA 8, MIKEL 6, HAZARD 6, TORRES 6

Goals. Liverpool: Sturridge 52, Suarez 90. Chelsea: Oscar 26, Hazard pen 57.
Substitutions: Liverpool Sturridge 8 (Coutinho, HT), Shelvey (Downing, 80). Chelsea Benayoun (Hazard, 78), Moses (Oscar, 83), Lampard (Mata, 90).
Bookings: Liverpool Carrager, Henderson, Shelvey, Lucas, Suarez. Chelsea Azpilicueta, Torres.

Man of the match Sturridge.

Match rating 6/10.
Possession: Liverpool 50%. Chelsea 50%.
Attempts on target: Liverpool 12. Chelsea 6.
Referee K Friend (Leicestershire).
Attendance 45,009.

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Guardian:

Luis Suárez is both villain and hero as Liverpool draw with Chelsea

Andy Hunter at Anfield

The only Luis Suárez bite that concerned Rafael Benítez at Anfield was the 97th‑minute equaliser that weakened Chelsea's place in the top four. Branislav Ivanovic's arm will recover from the Liverpool striker's shocking act of savagery but the damage to Chelsea, and Benítez's reputation, will be lasting should two dropped points on Merseyside ultimately derail their Champions League status.
If there was an inevitability to Benítez swerving controversy on his return to Liverpool for the first time since his departure in June 2010, and the interim Chelsea manager was more preoccupied with time than teeth in his post-match press briefing, then the same was true of Suárez's final contribution.
The fourth official had signalled for a minimum of six minutes of added time and the clock showed 34 seconds more when Suárez headed Daniel Sturridge's superb cross in off Petr Cech. Benítez was incandescent in his old technical area. Brendan Rodgers' team had made enough chances in a vastly improved second half display to merit the point but arguably Sturridge and certainly Suárez should not have been on the pitch to conjure the late reprieve. Sturridge, whose half-time introduction transformed Liverpool's afternoon, escaped without even a booking for leaving his foot in on Ryan Bertrand. And Suárez? Well, where to begin?
Suárez's last act of the game may well prove his last act of the season, perhaps his last in a Liverpool shirt, once the Football Association review the astonishing 66th‑minute chomp that deepened the stain on his reputation. His final game for Ajax resulted in a seven-match suspension for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal in 2010 and his Liverpool season will be over should another lengthy ban follow the repeat on the Chelsea defender.
For Benítez, however, it was the failure to reclaim third place that hurt most. "It was an emotional return, I was pleased with the reception of the [Liverpool] fans but disappointed with the late goal we conceded, especially because I cannot understand six minutes and 45 seconds [of added time]. The game was over, we had it won and it was a throw-in for us. It is difficult to explain."
The Chelsea manager insisted he did not see the Suárez incident but did predict a top-four finish. "If you are in control that means you have a great advantage and that is not the case," he said. "But we have a very good team and I believe we can do it. I am confident."
And to think this hugely contentious game opened amid great respect. Benítez's name was sang throughout by the Kop but he was not the only subject of tribute. Anne Williams, the inspirational Hillsborough campaigner who died on Thursday, three days after defying doctor's orders to attend the 24th memorial service, and the victims of the Boston marathon bombing were honoured with a minute's ovation before kick-off.
There were predictable jeers for Fernando Torres whenever the former Liverpool striker touched the ball or left his mark on their central defence. Daniel Agger landed awkwardly after a nudge from the Chelsea forward in the second minute, and was fortunate his left knee did not buckle and Jamie Carragher received a flailing arm in the face when challenging for a high ball. Torres received a yellow card and, later on, a little retribution on the back of his calf. Rodgers did himself few favours afterwards by drawing parallels with the Torres elbow and the Suárez bite.
Liverpool appeared preoccupied with the Benítez sideshow in the first half and their distribution and movement paled in comparison with Chelsea's. The midfield contest was not worthy of the name as Ramires and Mikel John Obi intercepted and protected relentlessly while Oscar, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard bypassed Liverpool with ease. Carelessness in possession, with Jordan Henderson a frequent culprit, increased Anfield's irritation.
It was a surprise Chelsea led by only one set-piece goal by the interval. Oscar sent a glancing header beyond Pepe Reina's left hand from Mata's corner, having escaped the attentions of both Agger, his initial marker, and Carragher, the defender covering the edge of the six-yard box. Reina almost compounded Liverpool's defensive brittleness when he dropped a David Luiz free-kick behind him, only to gather in front of the line.
Only when Sturridge replaced the anonymous Philippe Coutinho did Liverpool show the energy and invention to worry Chelsea. Sturridge was a man on a mission against his former club, creating a glorious chance for Steven Gerrard seconds after his introduction that Cech saved with his leg and hitting the post with a venomous drive. His goal arrived after 52 minutes when he volleyed home from close range following a flowing Liverpool move involving Carragher, Stewart Downing and finally a wonderful chip over the Chelsea defence from Suárez.
The Uruguay international's afternoon deteriorated when he handled a Mata corner inside his own area and Hazard sent Reina the wrong way from the resulting penalty. Then came his latest bite into infamy as he tussled with Ivanovic in front of the Kop goal and redemption in the form of his 30th goal of the season. It was a fleeting redemption, obviously.
Man of the match Ramires (Chelsea)

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Telegraph:

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2:

By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent at Anfield

Read a full match report of the Premier League game between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday April 21 2013.
It is difficult to see howLiverpool can continue to employ Luis Suárez after his latest assault on the fabric of the game, his latest trampling on the reputation of a world-renowned club. He held an opponent and then bit him.
Such an outrageous offence would defy belief except Suárez has done it before. Enough is enough. Liverpool must consider selling him.
Suarez tweeted an apology for what he described as “inexcusable behaviour” on Sunday night but whatever ban the Football Association inflicts on him for grabbing Branislav Ivanovic’s arm and sinking his teeth into him after 66 minutes here, Liverpool need to acknowledge that their best player is their greatest liability and that no player is bigger than the club.
Liverpool will survive if the shamed Suárez is sold. Daniel Sturridge can lead the line; not with such sinewy, defence-eluding effect but with a bit more decorum. Liverpool have other creative forces, such as Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling. Inevitably there will be takers for Suárez. Liverpool can use such funds for less gifted but less embarrassing reinforcements.
Brendan Rodgers talked of the importance of the club’s “ethics and values”. These were shredded when Suárez seized Ivanovic’s arm. The stunned Serb rolled up his sleeve to show the mark to referee Kevin Friend, who spoke to both players but took no action. That leaves the FA the opportunity to act.
As well as protecting the club’s “ethics and values”, Liverpool must also consider the reaction of sponsors. Do the likes of Standard Chartered and Warrior want to be represented by an individual who stirs “Cannibal” headlines.
It is deeply saddening that Suarez should so damage a day that actually showed his club at their best, that demonstrated their “ethics and values”.
Liverpool’s fans delivered an emotional salute to Anne Williams, the mother of one of the Hillsborough victims and a tireless campaigner for justice who passed away last week. They also showed their solidarity with the city of Boston in the wake of the horrific events at the marathon.
Some very wealthy, right-minded men residing in Boston, Liverpool’s principal owner John W Henry and the chairman Tom Werner, must decide Suarez’s future. Not Rodgers. This is beyond a football matter.
This is about the image of a great club. Henry and Werner will not need reminding that Suarez has transgressed before, clearly not learned, and seems to possess the flawed character to indicate he will offend again. Enough is enough.
In Holland, he bit Otman Bakkal of PSV Eindhoven, earning the headline “the Cannibal of Ajax”.
So far at Liverpool, Suarez has racially abused Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, dived to win a penalty against Stoke City, courted controversy with a handball in the build-up to a goal against Mansfield Town and now this attack on Ivanovic. Some great players have graced that Liverpool No 7 shirt. Suarez stains it. Enough is enough.
Albeit without the racism and diving, this game was almost a highlights and lowlights compilation of Suarez’s career so far, a mix of the classy and the controversial.
There was an elegant assist, a handball that gave the opposition a penalty, a totally unsavoury, unacceptable incident and then a poacher’s goal at the death, his 30th for Liverpool this season, making him the first club man to reach the mark since Fernando Torres in 2007-08.
Much of the game was surreal. Rafa Benítez was loudly, passionately welcomed by his former Liverpool fans and roundly denigrated by his current ones, those of Chelsea.
For a minute before kick-off, a smiling Benítez wandered around shaking hands with home supporters, staff, stewards and local photographers.
Having lauded the returning Benítez, the Kop then barracked Torres before focusing on chanting in support of Suarez. The Uruguayan was playing at the top of Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1 system with Jordan Henderson in the hole.
Suarez worked so hard during the first half but he needed closer support and it was little surprise to see Sturridge replacing the quiet Coutinho at the break.
Suarez had almost engineered an early goal for Liverpool, playing in Glen Johnson, who poked the ball past the advancing Petr Cech. But there was a confidence to Chelsea, a belief in their creative players.
Eden Hazard was to the fore, touching the ball to his right for Ramires to demand a strange punched save from Pepe Reina.
Chelsea were building inevitably through Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar. When Hazard won a corner, Mata curled the ball over across the face of the Kop.
Strangely, and expensively, Lucas left the near-post and scuttled across towards Reina, gifting space that Oscar headed into. Chelsea almost extended their lead when Reina fumbled a David Luiz special but just managed to stop the ball falling over the line.
The game always contained an unpleasant undercurrent. Torres was cautioned for an elbow on Jamie Carragher, earning some more taunts from the Kop. Over the past decade, Chelsea versus Liverpool has almost become the fixture that respect forgot.
The second half was extraordinary. Sturridge acted like an adrenalin shot on Liverpool. He immediately ushered in Steven Gerrard, whose shot was saved by Cech.
Sturridge then turned 25 yards out and sent a ferocious left-footed strike against the post. Liverpool were getting closer and closer. They equalised with a lovely move, Suarez lifting the ball across to Sturridge, who scored from close range.
Suarez then took the headlines with two crazy acts and one sweet one. First he handballer Mata’s cross. Hazard had to wait two minutes for Friend to calm down tempers.
Hazard had to ignore Reina’s attempts to psyche him out. The Belgian kept his composure, looked to the right and placed the ball the other way.
Suarez then bit Ivanovic, Friend missed it and the game’s temperature rose again. Sturridge caught Bertrand with a nasty late challenge, causing a melee after Friend played on.
Fortunately, Cech played the blessed peacemaker, pulling blue-shirted players away, getting them to focus on the game. This was vital for Chelsea. They were minutes away from a huge win.
But as if the headlines did not already belong to him, Suarez totally guaranteed his place in the spotlight with a flicked header past Cech from Sturridge’s cross deep into injury time.
Benítez was furious that six minutes had been added on but there had been so many delays with subs, goals and protracted penalty-kicks.
Suarez’s goal complicates Chelsea’s pursuit of a Champions League place. It could also prove Suarez’s last touch for
Liverpool. Enough is enough.

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Times:

Luis Suárez back in hot water over ‘biting’
Matt Hughes

Luis Suárez salvaged a point for Liverpool with a dramatic equaliser in the 97th and final minute of a compelling match at Anfield, but that is just the start of it.

The Uruguay striker also contributed an assist and conceded a penalty in a typically eventful display, but it was his bite on Branislav Ivanovic just above the elbow in the 74th minute that will be the main talking point once the dust has settled following a dramatic denouement.

And it is likely to remain so, until the FA decides whether to charge him with misconduct. As Suárez’s previous disciplinary case took several months to conclude, this sorry saga is likely to dominate the rest of the season.

Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, claimed that he had not seen the incident but said that he would review the incident before reaching a conclusion. “Until I review it, I can only talk about the football,” he said.

After the incident, Ivanovic rolled up his sleeve in an apparent attempt to show the referee a mark.

While Rafael Benitez, the Chelsea manager, also said that he had not seen the bite, the viewing public and Twitterati had already reached their judgment. In doing so they demonstrated that the reputation of a divisive character has reached a new low.

In other circumstances Suárez may have been given the benefit of the doubt, but the Uruguayan has previous, before we even get to his eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra last season. The 26-year-old was given a seven-match ban for biting Ottman Bakkal, of PSV Eindhoven, whilst playing for Ajax, which in the event proved to be his last game in the Netherlands.

Suárez may not have played his last game for Liverpool if he is successfully charged by the FA, but a guilty verdict would place the club under huge pressure.

Graeme Souness, commentating for Sky Sports, said that the club would have to consider letting him go. “Liverpool are not blessed with world-class footballers at this time, and he is genuinely a world-class player, but he’s making it very difficult for them to hold on to him,” he said.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in a football match before. That’s what children do when they are in the pram, they bite things if they are not happy with it. He must be on the borderline of doing something mad, crazy every time he goes out there if he is capable of that.”

He has proved to be a magnet for controversy since joining the club in 2011. He was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra that year and was pictured aiming a punch at an opponent last month during Uruguay’s World Cup qualifying match against Chile on Tuesday.

He also attracted criticism this season after he handled the ball before scoring the winning goal against Mansfield in the FA Cup in January, while he was criticised for admitting that he dives.

The incident has already overshadowed a thoroughly entertaining game, in which Liverpool showed considerable spirit in twice coming from behind to damage Chelsea’s Champions League ambitions. The visitors had been in control for long spells, but at the end of the 61st match of a marathon campaign lost their legs.

Chelsea had offered nothing in attack, other than a speculative 25-yard shot from Ramires saved by Jose Reina, before taking the lead in the 26th minute. Liverpool’s early threat had been fading for a while, but it still came as a surprise that their defence was breached so easily.

If Chelsea scoring the opening goal was slightly startling then the circumstances surrounding its creation came as an outright shock. There was nothing unusual about Juan Mata’s deadly delivery from an in-swinging corner, but seeing Oscar beat Jamie Carragher in the air almost registered as a JFK moment.

In fairness to Carragher he was only attempting a salvage operation, with the disarray in Liverpool’s defence illustrated by the fact that Daniel Agger had allowed Oscar to run free. His triumph was down to brains rather than brawn, with the Brazilian pulling back away from Carragher before directing a flicked header to the near post for his tenth goal of the season. For a 21-year-old new to the Premier League such a return has to be judged a success despite his inconsistency, and Oscar will surely improve next season.

David Luiz came close to doubling Chelsea’s lead three minutes with the kind of swerving 30-yard free kick that is becoming his trademark. Such is his potency that Frank Lampard would not have got a look-in even if he’d been on the pitch. Luiz’s shot bounced awkwardly in front of Reina, although that fact should not entirely excuse his fumble, and the goalkeeper looked mightily relived at being able to re-gather as the ball spun towards the goal-line.

Liverpool’s immediate response was so limited – a run down the right from Stewart Downing which led to Petr Cech making a smart save from Suarez – that Rodgers felt the need to make a significant change at half time, introducing Daniel Sturridge in place of the anonymous Philippe Coutinho. The England striker with points to prove to both his current and former clubs made an immediate impact, bringing a good save from Cech with his first touch and hitting the post two minutes later before scoring a well-worked equaliser in the 52nd minute.

Sturridge’s goal was more route-one than the tika taka to which Liverpool seemingly aspire, but his finish was exquisite. Carragher’s long ball from the back was flicked on with his first touch by Downing to Suarez, whose hanging cross was as inviting as the spring sunshine which had just broken out. Sturridge still had plenty to do however, showing impressive agility to volley in at the back post.

Liverpool’s celebrations proved short-lived however, as Suarez quickly transformed from hero to villain, although not on a scale of his later misdemeanour. Mata’s 56th-minute corner was as dangerous as ever and as Suarez challenged Fernando Torres the ball clearly struck his hand, leaving referee Kevin Friend no alternative but to award a penalty. Eden Hazard was forced to wait what felt like an age on the spot while the fuss died down, but the delay did not bother him, as he showed by coolly slotting the ball past Reina will minimal run-up.

Suárez’s temperament could not be more different, as was conclusively demonstrated by his clash with Ivanovic as they challenged at a corner. The Serb was seen to roll up his sleeves and the video replays were conclusive. He was not finished however, going on to head in Sturridge’s left-foot cross, but the celebrations are unlikely to have lasted for long once the enormity of another disciplinary crisis hits home.


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Mail:

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2: Shaming this proud club – Suarez is dragging Reds' name through the mud
By IAN LADYMAN

Almost a year and a half on from one of the lowest moments in the club’s history,  Liverpool are back where they started with Luis Suarez.

We did, in all honesty, think we had seen the worst of Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker. His racial  comments to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra in October 2011 plunged his club in to a crisis from which it struggled to recover.

Yesterday, we discovered we were wrong. Suarez, it transpired, had more depravity in his locker and this morning Branislav Ivanovic wears the scars on his right bicep to prove it.

It was clear something was very wrong within a second or so of Suarez tussling with the Chelsea defender in front of the Kop  midway through the second half. Immediately, the Serbian proffered his arm to referee Kevin Friend while making a clear ‘biting’ motion. Was he really suggesting Suarez had bitten him? Soon after, replays revealed the grisly truth, a truth from which Suarez can make no attempt to run this time.
In the Evra case, Suarez denied abusing his opponent. Liverpool, wisely or otherwise, defended him with all the vigour they could  muster. It was, after all, a case of one man’s word against another.

In this instance, the evidence is clear, a high-definition horror show, and although manager Brendan Rodgers endeavoured not to be drawn yesterday, he and the club’s owners in America face a decision.

Rodgers talked in terms of the club’s reputation last night.

Suarez has already chewed that up and spat it out, but if Liverpool are serious about limiting the damage they may wish to look at the way Manchester United dealt with Eric Cantona after his assault on a fan at Crystal Palace in 1995.

They pre-empted the FA by suspending him immediately. Almost 20 years on, it still looks a reasonable tactic.

Certainly in Boston the Liverpool owners will look upon this episode darkly. John W Henry was scandalized by the way his club’s reputation suffered globally last season and, as he is now dealing with the same culprit, Suarez would be  correct to worry about his future.On TV yesterday, Graeme Souness — a great icon of the club —  spoke eloquently and passionately.  Souness understands Liverpool as well as anybody and his clear  concern is understandable.

For all his gifts, Suarez is now in danger of dragging his employers’ reputation in the same direction as his own. In terms of his football, Suarez was exemplary. He often is, and the fact he created Liverpool’s first equaliser and scored the  second with the game’s penultimate kick deepened the feeling of dismay that here we have a footballer so destructively flawed.

Rodgers looked a little deflated. His team had done well to grab a point but nobody really wanted to talk about that. Second best before half-time, Liverpool trailed by a goal. Replays failed to explain who was supposed to be marking Oscar at a 27th-minute corner but nobody got close enough and his header proved too powerful for goalkeeper Pepe Reina at the near post.

Twice at the end of the half,  Suarez came close. On both occasions Petr Cech proved equal. After the break, though, Liverpool did break sweat. The introduction of Daniel Sturridge brought directness and twice within the first two minutes they came close as Steven Gerrard was denied by Cech’s boot and Sturridge by a post.

In the 52nd minute, Liverpool did score. Some goal it was, too, as Stewart Downing diverted a Glen Johnson pass into Suarez and the 26-year-old’s sumptuous first-time chip allowed Sturridge to side-foot in from seven yards without breaking stride.
Chelsea were to come again as a Suarez handball gave them a penalty converted by the impressive Eden Hazard three minutes later, and the game did get a little fractious.

Jamie Carragher became embroiled in a battle with former team-mate Fernando Torres while Sturridge seemed to leave a foot in on Ryan Bertrand.

The subsequent stoppage contributed to the six-and-a-half minutes of added time that incensed Chelsea’s boss Rafa Benitez. Right at the end, Suarez moved on to a Sturridge cross and his header found the top corner off Cech’s wrist. A day of drama now had everything but, inevitably, only part of the game will form this week’s  narrative.

On Sunday morning a newspaper interview with Suarez contained an admission that he would not expect people to vote for him in this season’s PFA and football writers’ awards.

Here at Anfield was another reason why his self-analysis may have been spot on.

Certainly an unpalatable possibility now looms.

The votes for the PFA award are in and Suarez is short-listed. If he has won, the players’ union face the embarrassing prospect of handing him his award at their gala dinner in London this Sunday.

PFA chief executive Gordon  Taylor may have some thinking to do this morning. His problems, though, pale when compared to those of Liverpool.


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Mirror:

Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea: Luis Suarez BITES Ivanovic and then scores 97th minute equaliser

By David Maddock

We have long realised Luis Suarez plays right on the edge... what we didn’t quite fathom though, is it’s the edge of insanity.
No amount of hand-wringing, no amount of rationalisation can explain the Liverpool striker’s motivation when he gets out on the football pitch. Quite clearly, he can not explain it himself.
All we can say is that the red mist descends all too often for this talented footballer - the demons that drive him towards the edge of perfection as a player, also drag him to the edge of destruction.
In this match, we saw all sides of a character who simply defies characterisation. There was an almost angelic poetry to his sublime play that gave Liverpool a point at the end of a game which defined drama.
But more pertinently, there was the downright demonic, in the way he didn’t just bite Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, but savaged him, with a concerted slashing of demented jaws that resembled nothing less than a pitbull attack.
Had referee Kevin Friend seen the - and the word incident simply doesn’t describe the gravity of the situation sufficiently - savaging, then presumably not only would Suarez been sent off, he would also have been muzzled.
The horror on the face of boss Brendan Rodgers, and indeed all of the shell-shocked Liverpool staff afterwards, spoke volumes about the severity of this offence. The fact that is was SO offensive means he will undoubtedly be banned for a very, very long time.
What is less quantifiable though, is the extent of the damage to a great club, and whether its reputation can survive this latest round of madness surrounding the player. Already, as tv pundit Graeme Souness suggested last night, he’s arguably cost one Liverpool manager his job. What price another?
Rodgers - sensibly - refused to take an instant position on such a serious and sensitive matter, preferring to get the full facts before passing judgment.
But it is clear the manager will ultimately be called to make the toughest call of his career so far, and at this point it is hard to see a situation where he will be able to keep Suarez at Anfield, given his charge sheet. Indeed, chief executive Ian Ayre cancelled his trip to the far East last night, to deal with such serious ramifications.
This is a player with previous don’t forget. When he signed for Liveprool he was in the middle of serving a seven match ban for biting after an unsavoury chapter in Dutch football when he took a chunk out of PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax in 2010.
A year later and it was an eight match ban for perhaps the most unsavoury chapter in English football (combined with John Terry’s disgrace) when he was given an eight match ban for racist abuse directed towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
Even coming into this game, the Uruguary international was under investigation by FIFA after punching Chile’s Gonzalo Jara during a World Cup qualifier last month...though in mitigation the defender had grabbed Suarez’s genitals.
In truth, even a similar explanation could not excuse this latest indiscretion, and the question has to be asked, when does the circus stop at Anfield? The answer, sadly, will surely be this summer.
Sadly, because he is a genius, who has scrapped his way off the streets of Montevideo and from the clutches of untold poverty to get here, to become part of Anfield folklore, though that is no excuse of course.
It seems almost irrelevant to write about the game after Suarez’s demonic madness, and yet either side of his savage attack on 66 minutes, he took a bite out of Chelsea’s top four hopes, and showed once again that Rodgers is building a team of such promise here.
Liverpool outplayed the visitors, and deserved more than the point their striker earned in the sixth minute of injury time when Suarez cleverly nodded the ball down to sub Daniel Sturridge, raced into the box and then brilliantly converted the cross from his partner.
It was the second time the pair had provided an equaliser, because just after the break with Sturridge’s introduction for Philippe Coutinho, Suarez provided a stunning chipped pass to give the £12million sidekick the chance for an equally brilliant finish.
In between, of course, Liverpool shot themselves in the foot, though never quite as spectacularly as Suarez did. They gifted Chelsea two goals when the London club barely seemed capable of getting out of first gear.
On 19 minutes, the diminutive Oscar somehow found himself unmarked from a Mata corner and beat Reina far too easily at the near post, and even worse Suarez himself inexplicably thrust up a hand to gift Chelsea a penalty on 57 minutes which Hazard converted...though that madness paled beside the later one.
The truth was, Chelsea did little here to suggest they can finish in the top four, with Liverpool playing virtually all of the football. Yet such subtleties were lost amidst the wider carnage, and even two shocked fouls from Fernando Torres and then Sturridge which could have earned red were overshadowed. but then, this is Luis Suarez after all, and he does tend to take centre stage.

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Sun:

Steven Howard

IT should have been all about Rafa Benitez’s return to Anfield.

Or the emotional minute’s applause for Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams.

Maybe even the performance of livewire Liverpool substitute Daniel Sturridge as he ran amok against former club Chelsea.

On another day, it would certainly have been about Luis Suarez’s dramatic 97th-minute equaliser.

But, no, in the end it all came down to the latest moment of madness to afflict Liverpool’s troubled Uruguayan striker after he BIT Branislav Ivanovic’s arm.

The man already known as the Cannibal of Amsterdam after an earlier biting incident at Ajax.

What a day for Suarez to drag Liverpool’s name into the gutter.

All eyes had been on Benitez as he returned to his spiritual home for his first match since, ironically, seeing his Liverpool team beaten 2-0 by Chelsea back in May 2010.

As he emerged from the tunnel to take his place in the opposition dugout, the first strains of You’ll Never Walk Alone were heard.

It was a fitting prelude to the minute’s silence that would then follow for Anne Williams, who passed away last week.

On the Kop, those who had known Anne as both a friend and staunch, stoic ally in the long fight that would finally bring the truth into the public domain, a huge banner was unfurled.

Fittingly, it said simply but evocatively: RIP Anne, You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Just two minutes into the game and the Kop also paid its first tribute to another old friend as they broke into the time-honoured refrain of ‘Rafa, Rafael, Rafael Benitez’.

We were expecting another slow start from Chelsea as they embarked on their eighth game in 23 days. But they looked sharp, alert and fit.

So it was little surprise when the Blues took the lead in the 26th minute after some poor Liverpool marking at a corner.

Juan Mata swung the ball in, Oscar’s run lost Daniel Agger and the Brazilian beat Jamie Carragher in the air to power a header inside Pepe Reina’s left-hand post.

The Kop were stunned — as they would be again just four minutes later when a dipping David Luiz free-kick from 35 yards was fumbled by Reina before he grabbed the ball on the line.

The hosts finally had their first shot on target four minutes before the break when Petr Cech came off his line to save well after Suarez had shot powerfully. But this could not disguise just how weak Liverpool were looking in front of goal.

Brendan Rodgers had no alternative but to bring on Sturridge for the ineffective Philippe Coutinho at the break — and the reaction was immediate.

Straight from the kick-off, Sturridge skipped past a challenge from John Obi Mikel, drifted across Luiz before sending in Steven Gerrard with a glorious throughball. Only Cech’s outstretched left foot prevented the equaliser.

Sturridge, a £12million signing from Chelsea in January, seemed plugged into the mains and within 60 seconds had thundered a left-footed drive against the post.

Liverpool finally drew level in the 52nd minute — and no prizes for guessing the scorer.

Suarez dinked a lovely ball over Ivanovic after good work by Stewart Downing, and Sturridge did the rest from close in.

This should have been the moment for Liverpool to run away with it. Instead, Suarez inexplicably handled a Mata corner just five minutes later and Eden Hazard scored from the spot.

Inexplicably? Well, perhaps not, as a lot of strange stuff was obviously going through the Uruguayan’s head at this point.

Within 20 minutes he would do his Count Dracula impersonation — and the match ended as a serious footballing exercise.

Jonjo Shelvey, on for Downing, then missed an absolute sitter, driving his shot into the side-netting with five minutes to go.

It seemed it was as good as over, only for referee Kevin Friend to award SIX minutes of added time.

Incredibly, we had played 30 seconds on top of that when Sturridge crossed from the right for Suarez to nip in at the near post to head home.

The Kop exploded, their relief palpable. The after-shocks, though, will reverberate around this famous old club for considerably longer.

Anfield just might have seen the end of a firebrand footballer and stick of dynamite who has become just too hot to handle.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN - EDEN HAZARD (Chelsea)

LIVERPOOL: Reina 5, Johnson 5, Carragher 6, Agger 6, Enrique 5, Gerrard 7, Lucas 6, Downing 7 (Shelvey 5), Henderson 6, Coutinho 5 (Sturridge 8), Suarez 0. Subs not used: Jones, Assaidi, Coates, Coady, Skrtel. Booked: Carragher, Lucas, Suarez.
CHELSEA: Cech 7, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 6, Luiz 6, Bertrand 6, Ramires 7, Mikel 6, Mata 8 (Lampard 5), Oscar 7 (Moses 5), Hazard 8 (Benayoun 5), Torres 6.Subs not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Terry, Ba. Booked: Azpilicueta, Torres.
REF: K Friend 6.

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Express:
Liverpool 2 - Chelsea 2: Suarez leaves a bitter taste

The striker’s temper was to get the better of him once again here and the dark side of his character could not be suppressed, dragging him, and more importantly Liverpool, back into the mire.
On any other day, Suarez’s last-gasp header in front of the Kop would have captured the attention as Chelsea’s momentum was checked in their chase for a top-four place. Or the sublime pass that he had earlier conjured to set up Daniel Sturridge for the first of Liverpool’s equalisers would be drooled over.
Yet this was not just any other day, but an afternoon when reputations – or what was left of them – lay in tatters.
It was the 66th minute when Suarez collected possession in the Chelsea penalty area and tried to hoodwink Branislav Ivanovic in much the same manner that has seen him outwit the Premier League’s best defences time and again.
But what followed veered dramatically from the script. Suarez was stopped in his tracks and, in his frustration, immediately grabbed the right arm of the Serbian centre-back, sinking his teeth into the flesh by the defender’s elbow as if transformed into a wild animal.
It was as reprehensible as it was outrageous, especially during a game which had been preceded by a minute’s applause for courageous Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams.
Ivanovic fell to the turf clutching his arm, pointing to the injury and performing a chomping motion to referee Kevin Friend to convey a moment that is now set to have far-reaching repercussions for the Uruguay international.
Suarez? He sidled off to stand by a post awaiting the corner and had the temerity to cut an aggrieved figure when the referee went to speak to him.
It is inconceivable that he will not now face a lengthy suspension, though his future in English football is now on the line. This feels like one transgression too many.
The stench of his ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra still lingers and it was not even the first time he has indulged in yesterday’s antics.
When Suarez signed for Liverpool in January 2011, he was serving a seven-match ban with Ajax after biting PSV midfielder Otman Bakkal.
As for the other slight on his CV – the deliberate handball that denied Ghana reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2010 – there was a repeat of that as well, just to complete the full repertoire of this complex centre forward, who inspires loyalty but does not deserve it.
Suarez’s sleight of hand took Juan Mata’s corner away from Fernando Torres’s head and resulted in Chelsea regaining the lead from the resultant penalty and the forward being cautioned, triggering the sense of exasperation that was to unfurl itself in the most disgusting way. When Eden Hazard coolly sent Pepe Reina the wrong way from the spot , Rafa Benitez must have envisaged that his Anfield homecoming was set to be a perfect occasion.
Making his first return to these parts since the six-year reign that saw him lift the Champions League and FA Cup ended with the sack in 2010, he heard his name not only boom out after just one minute and 47 seconds, but become a familiar refrain until Chelsea grabbed the lead.
Oscar stood in front of Daniel Agger as Juan Mata whipped in a corner with replays suggesting the defender told Reina that he had the attacker covered. But Agger did not track his run and Oscar dispatched a bullet header at the near post.
The breakthrough was no more than Chelsea’s play merited, though ultimately the showdown at home to Tottenham on May 8 now looks pivotal to their hopes of dining with Europe’s elite.
It had taken the introduction of former Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge at half-time to pep Liverpool.
Within 12 seconds of his arrival as a replacement for Coutinho, he had carved out a chance for Steven Gerrard. Within 90 seconds he had thudded a drive against the post and inside seven minutes he had restored parity.

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