Owen brace helps Liverpool to much needed win

Liverpool 3 Portsmouth 0

Liverpool produced the positive performance so desperately needed to get them back on track as they scored three fine goals at Anfield.

First Dietmar Hamann lashed in a stunning volley on the run following a Michael Owen pass, and then the much-maligned little striker grabbed the second himself.

Owen added their third from a Steven Gerrard corner to dash any hopes of a Portsmouth revival.

Portsmouth had been pinned back for much of the half and their tough defender Dejan Stefanovic was lucky to still be on the pitch after a string of bad tackles.

Linvoy Primus and Arjan de Zeeuw weighed in with strong challenges on Heskey and Murphy respectively as Pompey sat deep in their half, suggesting a defiant approach this evening from the relegation strugglers.

Liverpool needed something quick and impressive to settle them – and it came on just six minutes.

Michael Owen retrieved an overhit cross on the left and spun to drop a pass invitingly for Dietmar Hamann, surging in 20 yards out.

The German hit his right-foot drive perfectly on the rise, and the ball flashed into the top corner without Shaka Hislop moving a muscle.

Pompey tried to hit back right away when Lomana LuaLua clipped a pass inside Sami Hyypia for Todorov to race into the box. But in the act of shooting, Biscan hurled himself across the striker’s path and put the ball behind.

Liverpool’s response was a weaving run from 40 yards out by Owen which ended with a low drive to the near post that Hislop touched round.

Then Riise broke up a move on the half-way line, raced down the right and cut in before lashing a shot from an acute angle which Hislop again blocked.

Liverpool's defenders had clearly been told to get forward and shoot. Biscan was next to try, with a twisting run to the edge of the box on 21 minutes which saw his effort sneak just wide of the far post.

Then a 35-yard shot from Harry Kewell drifted away from the left-hand upright.

Kewell again a minute later, this time from an acute angle on the left, forced Hislop into another diving stop following Steven Gerrard’s cross.

Then it was Owen’s turn to settle the nerves.

He started a move deep in midfield by sweeping the ball wide to Carragher on the right, and then arriving perfectly in the box when the ball broke off a defender to take control and sweep it past Hislop.

Dejan Stefanovic was booked on 33 minutes for a foul on Murphy as Liverpool continued to attack at every opportunity.

The Serbian was lucky not to get sent off four minutes later when he slashed through the back of Owen’s ankles, getting only a warning from referee Barry Knight.

Owen limped around for some minutes afterwards and quietly made his point to the Orpington official.

Biscan was then lucky not to concede a penalty when he slung both arms around Todorov in the box as a ball dropped in from the right.

Another Stefanovic foul, this time on Heskey from behind, produced a free-kick by Murphy which Biscan rose to meet with a powerful header – but Hislop again palmed away.

Pompey took off Smertin and Todorov at the break, bringing on Steve Stone and Matthew Taylor, scorer of their FA Cup equaliser on this ground last month.

The changes sparked a Pompey surge, and when Sami Hyypia was penalised for a foul on Stone on the edge of the box, Stefanovic curled the free-kick onto the bar on 49 minutes.

Owen made a pitch-length surging run onto a Gerrard pass and set up Riise, arriving on the left, but the Norwegian’s effort was mishit badly across the box.

Murphy saw his 20-yard drive touched just wide by a sprawling Hislop, but it was Owen on 58 minutes who put an end to any faint thought of a revival.

He met a curling corner from Gerrard with a flicked header from close range to give Liverpool their third.

Heskey then robbed Primus on the edge of the box and Owen snapped up the lose ball to move into the area and strike a low drive wide of the far post.

Owen then almost created another. His turn in from the line and neat pass into Murphy’s stride saw the midfielder fire in a shot which Hislop touched onto a post.