 Goals
Heskey 8
Ebbers 13
Owen 59, 88
Match
Report
Harry Kewell was little more than a spectator on his debut as Michael
Owen grabbed two goals to underline just who is the main man still
at Liverpool.
It was just 36 days since Owen's last match - his match-winning
brace for England against Slovakia in June - and the Liverpool ace
showed he was still in top form in the RheinEnergie Stadium as Liverpool
confidently won their first pre-season friendly and he bagged a
pair.
Kewell might have grabbed all the attention after his £5million
move from Leeds, but Owen - with a new crew-cut and beard - was
outstanding when he came on in the second half to cut down Cologne
after Emile Heskey had scored the Reds' first.
Liverpool's starting line-up was very much the second string with
Frenchman Gregory Vignal at full-back, Igor Biscan in the centre
of defence and Markus Babbel - who fell out with Gerard Houllier
last season and was told to find another club - playing at right-back.
And it was the much-maligned Heskey who started as if he had something
to prove. The arrival of Kewell and the emergence of Milan Baros
suggests Heskey will struggle for a first-team place this season
but he struck with a peach of a goal after just eight minutes.
He had been fouled by Mustafa Dogan when running clear minutes
earlier but gained his revenge by reacting quickest to a misplaced
crossfield pass and snapping up possession before sidefooting a
neat, clever shot from 25 yards inside Alexander Bade's left-hand
post.
Cologne, who had won all of their previous seven pre-season games,
were level on 13 minutes when Marius Ebbers was given far to much
space in the penalty box by Biscan to sweep home a right-wing cross.
Vladimir Smicer hit the crossbar and Heskey missed when put in
by a quick-thinking Baros as Liverpool battled to regain the lead.
Liverpool's second-half team saw 10 changes, only Biscan staying
on as Kewell was introduced, surprisingly on the right of midfield
with Danny Murphy on the left and Neil Mellor partnering Owen up
front.
Chris Kirkland was in goal with Swiss defender Stephane Henchoz
back in the side for the first time since calf injuries ruined the
final third of last season for him.
Kewell looked a little lost on the right flank and his squandering
of possession allowed Andrei Voronin to race away from Biscan before
firing wide of the far post.
The Australian soon switched to the left, but it was Owen who instantly
stamped his class on the proceedings on 59 minutes. He took a defence-splitting
pass from Steven Gerrard, dummied inside a defender and coolly stroked
the ball home off the far post.
Mellor should have scored soon after when he shot wide from close
range after Gerrard and John Arne Riise had opened up Cologne.
Liverpool's passing and movement improved immeasurably in the second
period and Owen added a third with two minutes to go when he punished
a poor backpass by grabbing possession, rounding goalkeeper Stefan
Wessels and rolling the ball home.
Press Association
Teams
Cologne: Alexander
Bade, Carsten Cullmann, Mustafa Dogan, Marius Ebbers, Dirk Lottner
(c), Matthias Scherz, Serbastian Shchindzielorz Oliver Shroder,
Moses Sichone, Christian Springer, Andrey Voronin,
Subs : Markus Dworrak, Giovanni
Federico, Sebastian Helbig, Florian Kringe, Ewangelos Nessou, Alexander
Voigt, Stefan Wessels
Liverpool: Markus Babbel, Milan
Baros, Igor Biscan, Salif Diao, El-Hadji Diouf, Jerzy Dudek, Dietmar
Hamann, Emile Heskey, Sami Hyypia (c), Vladimir Smicer, Gregory
Vignal
2nd half:
Kirkland, Henchoz, Carragher, Riise, Gerrard, Murphy, Kewell, Cheyrou,
Owen, Mellor
Att: 27,000
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Gerard Houllier I
am very pleased with Harry
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