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Steven Gerrard hailed Luis Suarez as “an absolute genius” after the striker inspired title-chasing Liverpool FC to an emphatic 3-0 victory at Southampton.

The Uruguayan marked his 100th Premier League appearance in style as he ended his five-game goal drought.

Suarez slotted home the opener and then created the second for substitute Raheem Sterling before earning the late penalty which Gerrard gleefully converted.

The 27-year-old is top of the Premier League scoring charts with 24 league goals and also leads the way in terms of assists having moved into double figures.

“It was a huge win for us and Luis showed once again that he's an absolute genius,” Gerrard told the ECHO.

“People had been talking about him going five games without a goal but his contribution to the team has never wavered.

“He is very unselfish. At times he's been asked to play in a wider role and he has shown what a great team player he is.

“Even when he wasn't scoring, he was still terrorising defenders and creating goals for us.

“It was a great way for him to celebrate 100 league games for the club. His record is phenomenal.

“All strikers go through spells where they don't score but he's back on the scoresheet now and hopefully there's plenty more to come from him.

“After the quality of the finish for the first goal, it was a great assist for Raheem and then the way he earned the penalty just underlined the problems he caused them all game.”

* John W Henry has revealed Luis Suarez did have a buyout clause in his contract last summer but Liverpool FC simply refused to sell the striker

Liverpool ultimately ran out comfortable winners as they secured their first victory at St Mary's since 2003.

However, Gerrard admits they had to dig deep during a spell of sustained pressure from Saints before the interval.

The Reds weathered the storm and then ruthlessly killed off Mauricio Pochettino's side in the second half. The captain believes manager Brendan Rodgers got his tactical masterplan spot on.

“Southampton had their moments in the first half,” Gerrard said.

“You are always going to have to withstand spells like that away from home and we dealt with it really well.

“The sign of a good side is the ability to absorb pressure and then cause the opposition problems on the counter-attack. I thought we did that really well.

“There were two big moments in the first half. The save from Simon Mignolet to deny (Jay) Rodriguez was world class.

“We also had a bit of luck when (Adam) Lallana's shot hit the post but you need little things like that to go your way.

“The manager got his tactics spot on and the team carried out his orders superbly.

“We played with a diamond in midfield to ensure we had bodies in the middle of the park to stop their threat.

“Then when we got possession we could counter-attack with the pace and quality of Daniel Sturridge and Suarez.”

Liverpool took full advantage of Arsenal's defeat at Stoke and with Manchester City not in league action, the Reds climbed to second place in the Premier League table.

With 10 games to go they find themselves just four points adrift of leaders Chelsea having taken 23 points out of a possible 27 since the turn of the year.

In the closing stages at St Mary's the celebrating 3,000-strong travelling Kop broke into a rendition of 'We're gonna win the league' for the first time this season.

Gerrard admits belief inside the dressing room is also growing but the talismanic midfielder insists Liverpool remain outsiders for the Premier League crown.

“It was nice to hear the fans singing about us being in the title race,” he said.

“But for us as players it's just a case of staying calm and relaxed. We can't get carried away.

“We are in the race, we have no other distractions and we believe we can compete for it, but there is still a long way to go. We've got some really important and difficult games coming up and we need to be focused.

“Everyone outside of the camp probably thought we would drop points at Southampton. Before the game, they will have looked at our fixtures and thought we would slip up in this one because it's such a tough one.

“Southampton have taken points off some big teams at St Mary's this season and our recent record against them wasn't great.

“But there's a great togetherness in this team. The spirit in the dressing room is something the manager has created.

“There is a lot of belief in the team. Games like the win at Southampton, coupled with what we've done at home recently to the likes of Everton and Arsenal, have fuelled that belief.

“There are other big teams fighting for the title and I wouldn't say we are the favourites. In fact we are the underdogs.

“But confidence is high and with 10 games to go we're in a great position. We have given ourselves a chance.”

* View all 24 of Luis Suarez's goals so far this season below

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