London: Luis Suarez scored in his Liverpool debut, entering as a substitute and getting a goal in the 78th minute of a 2-0 win over Stoke on Wednesday night.
Suarez came in in the 63rd minute and scored on a left-footed shot that struck defender Andy Wilkinson and trickled over the goal line.
"Fantastic for him and great for the supporters," Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said. "He will be all right, and there will be no problem with him. He has not even trained with the players yet because of the paperwork and work permit, so that is something to look forward to."
Suarez was acquired at Monday's transfer deadline from Ajax, and injured forward Andy Carroll was purchased from Newcastle. Liverpool also sold Fernando Torres to Chelsea, and he is likely to make his Blues debut against Liverpool on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
"I've watched him in games for Ajax and at the World Cup and he is a top player," Stole manager Tony Pulis said of Suarez.
Raul Meireles scored in the 47th minute as Liverpool won its third straight Premier League match.
Manchester City remained eight points behind Premier League leader Manchester United, dropping into a 2-2 tie at lowly Birmingham when Craig Gardner scored on a penalty kick in the 77th minute.
Carlos Tevez scored his 15th Premier League goal this season in the fourth minute and Aleksander Kolarov got his first in the 41st to build a 2-1 lead for City, but Patrick Vieira's foul on Kevin Phillips led to the penalty kick. Nikola Zigic had scored for Birmingham in the 23rd.
"If we want to go up the table, we should play better than tonight," City manager Roberto Mancini said.
Tottenham maintained its challenge for the final Champions League spot with a 1-0 win at Blackburn as Peter Crouch scored in the third minute.
Manchester United (15-0-9) leads with 54 points, followed by Arsenal (15-5-4) with 49, Manchester City (13-5-7) with 46, Chelsea (13-6-5) with 44 and Tottenham (11-5-8) with 41.
Liverpool (10-10-5) is seventh with 35, two points behind Sunderland (9-6-10).
Daniel Sturridge scored in his Bolton debut, getting a goal in the third minute of second-half injury time for a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton. Damien Duff scored his first league goal since last Feb. 21, connecting against his former team to give Fulham a 1-0 win over Newcastle.
Robbie Keane scored in his West Ham debut and Victor Obinna had two goals in a 3-1 win at Blackpool.
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