Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers fears Luis Suarez has acquired a reputation for diving that will haunt him for the rest of his career.
Suarez put in a dazzling performance at Norwich on Saturday, scoring three goals and setting up another in the Reds' 5-2 win at Carrow Road. But one thing tarnished the Northern Irishman's first victory - yet another refusal by the match officials to award Liverpool a penalty after a foul on Suarez.
"I could tell you about three or four strikers who go down in the box with very minimal contact, and all of them have had penalties this year," Rodgers said. "Everyone in the ground saw it was a penalty. Apart from the referee."
Leon Barnett clearly barged Suarez over and brought his elbow down on the forward's shoulder in the box, but referee Mike Jones did not give the spot-kick despite strong protests from the away players.
Last week Suarez was denied a penalty despite being fouled by Jonny Evans and the week before he received a yellow card for simulation against Sunderland, although replays confirmed the penalty shout was legitimate.
Rodgers' frustration with officiating in Liverpool's games so far this season came to a head earlier this week when he called referees' chief Mike Riley to complain his team were not getting enough correct decisions.
He insists he cannot ponder on the matter for too long, however.
He added: "We just have to concentrate on building our game, developing our football, and hopefully these penalties that we don't get won't come back to haunt us."
Unlike Liverpool, Norwich never looked like ending their winless streak. But Norwich have performed better after their 5-0 hammering of Fulham on the opening day of the season and defender Russell Martin thinks the defeat was not a true reflection of the talents at Chris Hughton's disposal.
"The real Norwich is what you saw in the last three or four weeks - not what you saw against Liverpool," Martin said. "We are deflated at the moment, but we have a work ethic in that dressing room that has got us to where we are over the last few years and it remains the same."
Source: PA
