Heskey impresses Houllier

Gerard Houllier paid tribute to Emile Heskey as Liverpool crushed Olimpija Ljubljana to reach the second round of the UEFA Cup.

Heskey scored one, his 50th goal for the club, and missed a hatful as he led the line alone last night with Michael Owen out injured.

The big striker had been the centre of controversy in England’s triumph in Turkey, with video footage pinpointing his part in the tunnel uproar.

But Houllier was more than pleased with his striker’s response.

He said: “It has been a tiring time for him, and a lot has been said.

“But he could have had a hat-trick out there and played very well. I told him at half-time after he had missed a few that Michael Owen misses chances but keeps getting into the right positions.

“He has a tough job to do against a packed defence and his contribution was all I could have asked for.”

Houllier was equally pleased with the overall team performance.

He added: “I loved it, there were times when you just sit back and enjoy the performance of your team, and this was one of those nights.

“It was a wonderful game of football, and we won with a performance that was at times brilliant and always extremely comfortable.

“The passing and inter-changing was excellent and we could have won by far more. They gave us a very good game in Slovenia but at times we made them look very ordinary.”

Anthony Le Tallec, Heskey and Harry Kewell scored in a 3-0 second leg victory that wrapped up a 4-1 aggregate success.

Houllier said: “We were extremely disciplined. In games like these, against supposed lesser teams, you must show the right focus and attitude and we played as a team.”

He added: “It was a treat on the eye, I just enjoyed what I was seeing.

“When you get the right result and the right performance, it is the perfect end to a night.”

Liverpool had been stung by criticism from the Slovenians before the match that they lacked heart, but Houllier said: “We responded to that, the one thing we are never short of is guts and heart.”

Liverpool had lost their two previous matches in the Premiership against Charlton and Arsenal, and Houllier said: “I know we lost those two games, but we always even then played good football and at times were very unfortunate.

“I just want them to now carry on the way they are playing.”