Suarez shows appetite for controversy, bites Chelsea defender

The good, the bad and the ugly sides of Luis Suarez were on show again on Sunday as the Liverpool striker bit the arm of a Chelsea defender before scoring a late equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw for his team.

Suarez sunk his teeth into Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic as they tussled for the ball in the penalty area with Liverpool trailing 2-1 in the Premier League game.

Referee Kevin Friend appeared not to see the 66th-minute incident but Suarez -- who once served a seven-match ban for biting an opponent in the Netherlands while with Ajax -- faces a suspension once his moment of madness is reviewed.

The Football Association confirmed it would begin an investigation on Monday morning, beginning with talking to Friend to find out whether he had witnessed the incident.

Suarez later apologised on Twitter and the club website, while manager Brendan Rodgers and managing director Ian Ayre added their condemnation.

"I am deeply sorry for my inexcusable behaviour earlier today during our match against Chelsea," Suarez said.

Chelsea's interim boss Rafa Benitez was reluctant to talk about it, but Suarez's action was slammed by pundits, including former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness.

"I'm not sure what to make of it," Souness told Sky Sports.

"Embarrassing. He's making it very difficult for himself to stay at Liverpool, that puts him in the last-chance saloon.

"Most important is safeguarding the good name of the football club. Liverpool are world renowned. People will be talking about this for a long, long time, and it will show Liverpool in a very bad light.

"This is not the first time he has bitten someone in the football match.

"There are lines you just can't cross, and he has crossed it today. Those pictures will be beamed across the world. It's very difficult for Brendan Rodgers to defend him."

Fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp, another former Liverpool player, added: "He obviously has a big problem. He has that madness gene in him, and what he did today was indefensible.

Controversy has followed Suarez since he joined Liverpool from Ajax in January 2011, but the latest incident comes at a particularly poignant time for Liverpool, close to the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy in which 96 of their fans were crushed to death at a 1989 FA Cup semi-final.

Suarez served an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra last season and later angered United manager Alex Ferguson by failing to shake the French defender's hand before their league match in February last year.

The 26-year-old has also regularly been accused of diving and this season hit the headlines for scoring a goal in the FA Cup against minor-league Mansfield after committing a handball.

Yet despite the baggage, Suarez has been one of the best strikers to grace the Premier League.

His headed equaliser against Chelsea was his 23rd Premier League goal of the season, taking him two clear of Robin van Persie in the scoring charts.

He is in the running to win the PFA Player of the Year award, making a six-man shortlist for the prestigious prize.

His brilliance was there for all to see on Sunday.

The cross that allowed Daniel Sturridge to equalise was inch-perfect, and the way he dispatched his late header past Petr Cech showed the mark of a world-class striker.

Yet in the same match he gave away a penalty with a handball before showing his dark side.

"Having reviewed the video footage and spoken to Luis, his behaviour is unacceptable and I have made him aware of this," said Rodgers, who has stood by Suarez in the past.

There was also condemnation from the club's hierachy with Ayre saying Suarez's behaviour was not "befitting of any player wearing a Liverpool shirt".

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said Suarez was "the third best player in the world behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo", but the club's former defender Mark Lawrenson, now a BBC pundit, said the Uruguayan's talent came with a price.

"He's a world-class player but he gives you world-class trouble," he said.