Mercurial attacker could not prevent the Reds losing 1-0 to David Moyes’s side though.
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Liverpool head coach Brendan Rodgers pronounced himself delighted with the performance of front man Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan made his long-awaited Reds comeback against Manchester United on Wednesday night, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
The 26-year-old was making his first appearance for the Merseyside giants since being handed a 10-match ban by The Football Association for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on the arm in the Premier League at Anfield last April.
However, despite the lift that Suarez’s presence up front gave Rodgers’s side, they still lost 1-0 to their arch rivals in the Capital One Cup third-round clash at Old Trafford, with Mexico international Javier Hernandez grabbing the only goal of the game just after half-time.
Either way, though, Rodgers still had words of praise for his controversial striker after the match, with the Northern Irishman just glad to have the Uruguay international back in his startling line-up after an absence of 157 days.
“I thought he was excellent,” said the Liverpool manager in his post-match press conference.
“He ran himself into the ground and he was always a threat, put defenders on the back foot with a few turns. As he goes on he will get sharper but I was really pleased with him, he was brilliant.
“He is one of the most determined people I have met in my life, he is very thick skinned and he will go and play anywhere. When you have been out for so long, he was never going to be fazed by it.
“He’s worked very hard. He obviously tired a wee bit but even in the last moments he can still create for you and distract defenders and open up the space. The fans were brilliant to him. The support they have given him is unheralded.
“This is such a unique club where they support the players who wear the shirt and they were brilliant towards him. He recognises everything they have given him.”
However, in contrast to his glowing report on Suarez, Rodgers was not so enamoured with the performance of his Spanish left-back Jose Enrique, whose lack of concentration from a United corner just after the break led directly to Hernandez being left totally unmarked to net the only goal of the game.
“It’s disappointing,” fumed Rodgers. “It’s an individual thing, not collective. You see a corner coming in, no one was free and then Chicharito gets free far too easily. As an individual, you have got to be stronger mentally and have a greater desire not to lose your marker.”