For a player so steeped in controversy, it is often easy to forget the incredible footballing ability of Luis Suarez, who has made an impact - both good and bad - no matter where he has played.

Some impressive displays for Nacional, a club he joined at the age of 14, led to the South American's first big career move when he packed his bags and headed for the Netherlands. There, during a five-year stay at Groningen and then Ajax, Suarez would score 91 goals in a combined 139 appearances - an average well above a goal per game.

Even during his more youthful days at Dutch giants Ajax, the Uruguay international was already embroiled in a number of dark incidents, with his bite on PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal triggering the start of a theme which would be repeated right up until the current day.

There was also the bite on Branislav Ivanovic, of course, as well as an identical incident on the biggest stage of them all at last year's World Cup finals. No matter where he went, the headlines would soon follow.

Yet it was during his spell at Liverpool, the Dracula-like incident surrounding Ivanovic aside, where Suarez really caught the eye for the right reasons. His scoring rate would continue at its impressive level; 69 goals in 110 games providing Liverpool supporters with many happy memories.

Four goals in his first half-season at Anfield led to suggestions that the £23m-capture would become the latest in a long list to fail to adapt to the demands of English football following a move from the Eredivisie. Yet in his first full campaign he bagged 17 goals for the Reds, including a truly memorable treble against Norwich City on this day three years ago.

Each goal seemingly better than the last, Suarez carved his name in Premier League folklore by single-handedly taking the Canaries apart at Carrow Road to salvage Liverpool's season, which had threatened to completely fall apart following a run of two wins in their previous 11 games under the watch of club legend Kenny Dalglish.

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The first goal came after 24 minutes against a City side who were seemingly drifting away at this stage on the back of an impressive first term back in the top tier. Steven Gerrard, who would form a great understanding with his teammate over the next couple of years, created the move, intercepting the ball in midfield and feeding in the deadly striker to do the rest.

John Ruddy had no chance of keeping out the bullet attempt from inside the box, while his and Norwich's day soon got even worse when the same opposition player was at it again. This time it was all about individual brilliance, as he picked up the ball close to the halfway line and charged towards goal.

With no player in a yellow and green strip around to halt his run, Suarez fired away a sublime effort right across Ruddy and into the bottom corner of the net. Paul Lambert's side showed signs that they were not willing to roll over, with Elliott Bennett unleashing a long-range effort that Pepe Reina had to be alert to save, before Bradley Johnson headed wide from Anthony Pilkington's corner.

This was always going to be Liverpool and Suarez's day, though, and so it proved eight minutes from time when, with seemingly little to aim for, Suarez took range from 45 yards out and found the net. It was the perfect way to round off his first Liverpool hat-trick, which well and truly sealed the points in East Anglia.

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Suarez would not score again in 2011-12, but he kick-started another fine scoring campaign five months later with a second three-goal destruction of the Canaries at the same venue. Sick of the sight of him at this stage, the 28-year-old would add another notch to his personal tally against the now-Championship side later that season on his way to bagging 33 overall for the season.

The controversial star went on to score another three trebles for the Merseyside outfit prior to joining Barcelona, including a four-goal haul the following year against, you've guessed it, Norwich City.

NORWICH CITY: Ruddy, Drury (Martin, 12), Ward, Naughton, R.Bennett, Johnson, Pilkington, Fox (Vaughan, 46), E.Bennett, Howson, Morison (Holt, 76)

LIVERPOOL: Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Agger, Carragher, Gerrard (Coates, 85), Henderson, Downing, Shelvey, Suarez (Kuyt, 85), Bellamy