The Merseyside outfit had slipped to fifth in
the table with losses at title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea, but
returned to winning ways by avenging their 3-1 loss to Steve Bruce's men
in the reverse fixture last month.
Liverpool created the better
openings of the first half and moved ahead on 36 minutes when Philippe
Coutinho's corner was met by the head of stand-in captain Daniel Agger.
Suarez
doubled the lead on 50 minutes to notch his 20th Premier League goal of
the season with an unstoppable bending free-kick, joining Fernando
Torres as only the second Liverpool player to score in eight consecutive
Premier League home games.
Brendan Rodgers' side pushed for a
third as the game neared its conclusion, but the scoreline remained at
2-0 as the hosts climbed to fourth, while Hull stay 10th.
Liverpool
skipper Steven Gerrard returned to the bench after a four match lay-off
with a hamstring problem, while Iago Aspas and Aly Cissokho replaced
injured duo Joe Allen and Mamadou Sakho.
Hull brought in Alex Bruce and David Meyler for Liam Rosenior and George Boyd.
In
a lacklustre opening, the two sides exchanged speculative efforts with
Yannick Sagbo's half-volley and Suarez's inventive chip.
Suarez
thought he had put the hosts ahead on 19 minutes when he headed home
Coutinho's free-kick, but the Uruguayan was denied by the linesman's
offside flag.
Raheem Sterling then had a great chance to break
the deadlock for the hosts when he broke clear of the Hull defence on
the left only to shoot straight at Allan McGregor.
Liverpool’s pressure told with nine minutes remaining in the half, though, as Agger leapt highest to head home Coutinho's corner.
Rodgers' team then spurned two great opportunities to extend their lead before half-time.
First,
Jordan Henderson side-footed wide from the edge of the box following a
superb passage of play, before Coutinho placed an effort wide of the
near post after collecting Henderson's intelligent pass.
Shortly after the break the home side did add a second. Suarez
was fouled by James Chester and picked himself up to curl home a
sublime free-kick from 25 yards, becoming the first Liverpool player to
reach the 20-goal landmark in consecutive league campaigns since Robbie
Fowler in 1994-95 and 1995-96 in the process.
Gerrard entered
play shortly after the hour mark to a standing ovation and dragged an
effort wide with 15 minutes remaining, while Coutinho twice went close
from distance.
In the closing stages Suarez had another goal
disallowed when he side-footed home from Kolo Toure's centre, but the
ball had gone out of play before the defender crossed.
Coutinho
then almost had the final say in injury time as he forced McGregor into a
stop from close range after a brilliant solo run, but Liverpool were
made to settle for a two-goal winning margin.
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