Double delight for daddy Suarez

If the Liverpool forward could have hand-picked the opponents to end his 161-day Premier League exile, it would have been Sunderland, and that’s not just because they continue to prop up the division.

Two goals on a highly satisfactory top flight return take his tally to seven in six games against the Wearside club who staged an admirable second-half comeback which boasted a deficit-halving goal from Emanuele Giaccherini. Sadly for them though it came in the knowledge that the damage had been done thanks to some woeful defending exploited by marksmen at the top of their game.

Suarez added to Daniel Sturridge’s opening goal to put Brendan Rodgers’ side two ahead at the break against the winless and managerless hosts, who remain bottom of the table with just a point from six games.

“It’s great having him back,” Daniel Sturridge, whose 11th goal in as many Premier League games put Liverpool en route to a victory that propelled them up to second place, said of Suarez. “He gives us options because he’s one of the best forwards in the league. We’ve formed a good partnership and I’m happy to be playing with world-class players.”

Sturridge found the net via his bicep from a Steven Gerrard corner as he rose unmarked three yards from goal after 28 minutes.

“I tried to head it,” he said. “Obviously my heading isn’t good enough! I missed the ball and it went in off my arm but I wouldn’t do that on purpose. Sometimes these things happen.”

Liverpool’s Uruguayan international celebrated the end of his 10-game ban with a second as stoppage-time approached, after finding the net 36 minutes into his long-awaited league comeback following his midweek return in the Capital One Cup defeat at Manchester United.

“I’m not sure there’s a better front two in the league,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. “Of course you’ve got van Persie and Rooney at Manchester United, but our two are up there with the best in the country.

“The two of them will only get better the longer they play together. They’re working hard in training and it helps that they’re two different types of player. One has pace, power and two good feet, and one is a wriggler who ends up in the box and is hard to track.

“Luis isn’t fazed by much. There’s a remarkable mentality and the steel in his mindset, he’s just so focused and it’s like a new signing with him coming back. .”

Sturridge set up both goals for his strike partner, with a low cross for Suarez to slide home his first, Liverpool’s second nine minutes before the interval. The 26-year-old swiftly raised his top as he was mobbed his team-mates to reveal a t-shirt with a message welcoming his new-born son, Benjamin, to the world after Suarez became a father for the second time earlier in the week.

The Uruguayan’s second, a minute from time, required a slightly more difficult finish, left-footed on the half-volley from eight yards as Sturridge provided another telling low centre.

To their credit, the Wearsiders stuck doggedly to their task, and fought their way back into the contest seven minutes into the second-half courtesy of Giaccherini, as the Italian international pounced on the loose ball to slot home his third goal of the season after Simon Mignolet saved Ki Sung-Yueng’s long-range shot.

Mignolet was at full stretch to keep out Craig Gardner’s angled drive as the hosts sensed an equaliser that had appeared highly unlikely at the break. In their efforts to force parity, gaps inevitably opened at the back, and a cross-shot from Victor Moses went agonisingly close to restoring Liverpool’s two-goal cushion, a feat Suarez soon achieved.

Sunderland continue to search for a successor to Paolo Di Canio, having already held talks with ex-Brighton manager Gus Poyet and Rene Meulensteen, the former Manchester United coach. Chief executive Margaret Byrne said: “ We’ve had contact with interested parties and have others to speak to in the coming days. ”

SUNDERLAND (4-1-4-1): Westwood 7; Gardner 7, O’Shea 6, Cuellar 5, Colback 6; Cattermole 6 (Celustka 74, 6); Johnson 5, Larsson 6 (Mavrias 85, 5), Ki 5, Giaccherini 8; Altidore 6.

LIVERPOOL (4-1-3-2): Mignolet 8; Toure 6, Stirtel 6, Sakho 6, Enrique 6; Lucas 6; Henderson 6, Gerrard 7, Moses 6 (Sterling 75, 6); Sturridge 8, Suarez 8.

Referee: Howard Webb