History very nearly repeated itself on the day a Carrow Road full house paid tribute to former Norwich City manager John Bond.

One of the most famous matches of Bond's reign was the 5-3 home defeat by Liverpool in 1980, etched in the memory by Justin Fashanu's BBC Goal of the Season.

And as the two clubs met again in a contest – if that is the word – preceded by a minute's applause in memory of the late City boss, they came very close to replicating that scoreline. But for the thigh of Robert Snodgrass diverting a team-mate's effort over the bar in the opening minute of the second half, it might indeed have finished City 3, Liverpool 5.

There was a hat-trick hero, too, for the Reds. For David Fairclough all those years ago, read Luis Suarez, helping himself to his second treble at Norwich in the space of five months.

But there the similarities just about ended, for while the classic game of Division One vintage was a thrilling, see-saw battle decided only by two very late Liverpool goals, this was not the Eighties revisited. It was a distinctly one-sided affair, the destination of the points looking ominously clear from as early as the second minute.

Certainly by the second minute of the second half, when Liverpool moved 3-0 ahead, there was no doubt about the outcome, and though Chris Hughton's men doubled their league goal tally for the season as Steve Morison and Grant Holt finally got off the mark, it was academic. The Canaries had suffered a five-goal thumping for the second time in their first six league games and had slipped into the bottom three, not the ideal platform for a visit to the league leaders and European champions in their next fixture.

The prophets of doom are already in full voice, but it would take a brave fan to predict just where the first Premier League win is coming from with Chelsea and Arsenal next on the agenda.

The absence of City's injured centre-half, S�bastien Bassong, may have been a crucial factor against Liverpool, but though his replacement, Michael Turner, had an unhappy afternoon, he was certainly not alone. He did, however, play an unfortunate part in the first two Suarez goals.

After just 67 seconds, Glen Johnson made rapid progress down the left and Turner's attempted clearance went only as far as Suarez, given far too much space and time to squeeze his shot past Leon Barnett's outstretched leg and just inside the post.

In the eighth minute, there was almost an equaliser as Russell Martin fired across the area and Simeon Jackson struck a first-time effort that goalkeeper Pepe Reina turned on to the post.

Midway through the half, City escaped when Barnett appeared to knock Suarez to the floor from behind, but referee Mike Jones was unimpressed by the penalty claim.

Goalkeeper John Ruddy kept City in touch when he kept out a header from Steven Gerrard at point-blank range after Suarez floated the perfect ball into his captain's path, but the South American was soon the centre of attention again.

First he squandered a golden chance when he fired wide after Daniel Agger strode through the Norwich ranks, but while the crowd were still greeting that miss with derision, Suarez made it 2-0.

A triangle of passes between Ruddy, Javier Garrido and Turner was rudely interrupted when Turner was caught in possession and Suarez poked the ball through his legs before beating Ruddy with the outside of his right foot.

Holt was introduced at half-time and City should have pulled a goal back seconds later. Morison did splendidly, tight on the byline, and his cross was met by a Surman volley that was somehow diverted over the top by Snodgrass from a yard out.

City paid for that miss less than two minutes later when Suarez crossed from the left at the second attempt and Nuri Sahin sidefooted home.

Surman screwed another chance wide before making way for Wes Hoolahan, but any remote hope of a fightback was extinguished on 57 minutes when Suarez completed his hat-trick, collecting Sahin's pass and curling in a brilliant right-foot shot.

City reduced the deficit after 61 minutes through Morison as Russell Martin struck a powerful shot that Reina fumbled horribly, leaving the striker to drill the rebound home. But it was soon 5-1 as a slip by Garrido allowed Raheem Sterling to run clear and cross, Gerrard's shot taking a sharp deflection off Barnett and giving Ruddy no chance.

City had the final say three minutes from time when Jonny Howson's clever pass left Martin Skrtel floundering and Holt beat Reina with a cool finish. It was his 71st goal for the club, nudging him into seventh place in the all-time list, one ahead of John Deehan and one behind Ralph Hunt.

But such statistical niceties are scant consolation at the moment, and City reached the end of September with only Reading and Queens Park Rangers below them in the table, each a point behind with a game in hand.