The striker says he was accused without “real evidence” after being given an eight-game ban in December 2011 for racially abusing the Man Utd defender

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has claimed the accusations regarding his race row with Patrice Evra were totally untrue.

The Uruguay international was given an eight-match ban in December 2011 after the Football Association found him guilty of racially abusing the Manchester United left-back.

However, the Uruguayan says the two occasions he has bitten players are the only things he regrets, insisting the Evra mess was a drama that the media and FA exaggerated.

“I’ve made two mistakes in my career: when I was playing for Ajax and I bit [Otman] Bakkal and what I did with [Branislav] Ivanovic [against Chelsea]. Those were my mistakes and I asked for forgiveness,” Suarez told Sport890.

“All the other things were like a movie that people in England believed in. Evra? That’s what I’m talking about. It wasn’t true. I was never accused with real evidence but that’s something people forget.”

Suarez admits it has been difficult for Liverpool to “protect” him during his controversies but has been buoyed by the support from his team-mates, in particular Steven Gerrard.

“As time goes on, I’m getting more mature and I think better things,” said the striker.

“If I don’t feed the journalists, journalists can’t speak about me. I’m now focused on football.

“The club, fans and team-mates were great because it’s hard to protect someone as they did with me with the way I was behaving. They all supported me, especially my team-mates. If you listen all the bad things, you get depressed, same thing for the good things.
 
“Gerrard is the guy at Liverpool. He’s always backed me up. He talked to the press and me and that’s something that will stay with me forever. Same thing for the coach [Brendan Rodgers], I have a great relationship with him.”

The victory at Craven Cottage has put the Merseysiders four points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea with 12 matches remaining

Brendan Rodgers has labelled Steven Gerrard as “peerless” after the midfielder’s late penalty secured a 3-2 win for Liverpool over Fulham.
The Merseysiders twice fell behind at Craven Cottage on Wednesday as Kolo Toure sliced past his own goalkeeper before Kieran Richardson made the most of Martin Skrtel’s deflection to score from close range.

On both occasions, though, Liverpool pulled level. First, Gerrard’s exquisite pass was received by Daniel Sturridge, who kept his cool with a neat finish, before Philippe Coutinho cut inside to strike home from 20 yards.

It looked like Liverpool would be frustrated in their efforts to find a winner until Sturridge was chopped down by Sascha Riether in the last minute, and Gerrard held his nerve to convert the penalty.

“Steven is peerless in many aspects of football,” Rodgers said. “His performance again was [brilliant].

“His pass for the first goal, that penetration he has that he’s shown all his life and then the composure at the end.

“It’s no coincidence, he studies the goalkeepers and what side they dive. The professionalism he’s showing at this stage of his career is still there.

“There’s no more ideal person than Steven Gerrard when you have a penalty in the last couple of minutes in games, he stuck it away brilliantly.”

Rodgers is also unconcerned by Luis Suarez’s current run of three games without a goal and insists the Uruguayan continues to influence in other areas.

“Luis is a world-class player, but I’m building something here that isn’t reliant upon one player,” said Rodgers.

“Other players have scored goals when Luis wasn’t in the team, or Daniel wasn’t in the team. You don’t score the number of goals we do when you’re reliant upon one player.

“Would Luis want the golden boot or be in the Champions League? He’d want to be in the Champions League. He’s such a selfless player, working wide and pressing all the time. The team is the most important thing.”

Tottenham dominate our team this midweek following their fine 4-0 win at Newcastle, a number of below-par performances from other clubs and a couple of postponed matches due to the adverse weather around the United Kingdom on Wednesday.

There is fierce competition for the goalkeeper gloves this week, with Cardiff City’s David Marshall and West Ham’s Adrian both putting in four-star, top-of-the-match winning performances on Tuesday, while Hugo Lloris was key for Tottenham 24 hours later.

The decision goes to Adrian (4), who kept out Norwich City with a number of fine saves before the Hammers nicked a vital victory late on.

Southampton’s Calumn Chambers (4) gets the right-back spot after a fine performance at Hull. James Collins (3) and Laurent Koscielny (4) make up the centre-back partnership: Collins was dependably solid as the Hammers beat Norwich, thanks in no small part to his late header, while Koscielny just about edges out his Arsenal team-mate Per Mertesacker after both men did a fine job of keeping Robin van Persie quiet after the Dutchman wasted a great opportunity presented to him by Mikel Arteta early on.

Kieran Gibbs (3.5) gets the left-back spot after dealing well with Antonio Valencia and providing Olivier Giroud with a number of crosses.

The majority of rest of the team is composed of Tottenham players after they picked up a vital win in the race for the top four.

Etienne Capoue (4) and Steven Gerrard (4) form the double-pivot. Spurs’ Frenchman controlled the centre of midfield and served as a springboard for his side’s attack on Wednesday; Gerrard, meanwhile, set up Daniel Sturridge with a world-class pass, before netting a last-minute penalty to move the Reds to within four points of first place.

Two more Spurs players provide the attacking thrust from midfield, with Paulinho (4.5) and Nabil Bentaleb (4) helping tear Newcastle to shreds at St James’ Park.  All three Spurs midfielders are making their debuts in the Premier League Team of the Week.

Adebayor (4) is one of the strikers in our XI after he scored twice against the Magpies to justify his continued selection by Sherwood.

He is partnered by Saido Berahino (4) who just about muscles out West Brom team-mate Victor Anichebe and Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge (both 3.5). The Baggies striker had Chelsea worried for the duration of their 1-1 draw and provided an inch-perfect cross for Anichebe’s leveller.