West Brom - 0 Liverpool - 6:PREMIERSHIP: Had Liverpool achieved the consistency in pursuit of the championship they are now showing in the contest for third place, their first title since 1990 might have become a more realistic prospect.
Seven wins in eight league games have put them in a position to overtake Newcastle and Chelsea, lying third and fourth, over the last few strides.
On Saturday Liverpool visited an end-of-season sale at the Hawthorns suspecting that goals might be going cheap. They were not disappointed and Michael Owen went bargain-hunting with a vengeance as Liverpool won 6-0 and could have had 10.
Already relegated, West Bromwich Albion were never going to waste their lungs chasing a lost cause. "We didn't have a great deal to play for and that's how it looked," observed their manager Gary Megson. Whether it looked that way to Owen and Milan Baros, who scored four and two goals respectively, was beside the point. There was a situation to be exploited and Owen in particular did so with elan.
He has now scored 102 goals in 185 appearances and, though he still has some way to go to overtake Roger Hunt's 245, time, at the age of 23, is on his side.
Fitness, not ability, is the main imponderable where Owen is concerned. Another consideration is Houllier's choice of partner to complement his leading scorer, and in this turkey shoot Baros looked ideally suited to the role.
Two years younger than Owen, the Czech is as adept at creating goals as he is at taking them. Twice he set up opportunities for Owen to demonstrate his scorer's instincts.
For Liverpool's opening goal, on the quarter-hour, a ball forward from Baros found Owen turning sharply away from Neil Clement to shoot low into the left-hand corner of the net. For their fourth Baros gathered a pass from Owen near the halfway line on the right wing and sprinted clear of the defence before crossing low for the incoming Owen to score at the far post.
In between, Baros and Owen scored Liverpool's second and third goals after centres from Steven Gerrard, who used Albion's midfield as marker buoys in setting up attacks.
The Hawthorns faithful bellowed "Albion we love you!" with even greater fervour and such devotion deserved at least one goal for the home team. Alas, the only seriously concerted movement towards the Liverpool end was achieved by a posse of stewards dashing for one of the exits.
Liverpool still had to play imaginatively to score, witness Danny Murphy's finely angled pass that completed Owen's scoring for the afternoon. Nevertheless, their last goal, six minutes from the end, confirmed that the opposition were getting a bit punchy. If goals in the Premiership were usually achieved with the ease of the simple lob from Gerrard which sent Baros clear of a defence that had taken on the guise of casual bystanders, most matches would be won or lost by tennis scores.
Liverpool's pleasure at such an emphatic win was tinged with wistfulness at what might have been. "Too many draws" was Houllier's verdict on their season as a whole; 10 of them in fact and eight at Anfield.
Guardian Servic
WEST BROM: Hoult, Balis, Gregan (Jordao 86), Wallwork (James Chambers 55), Clement, Johnson, McInnes, Koumas, Udeze (Lyttle 73), Dichio, Roberts. Subs Not Used: Murphy, Dobie. Booked: Dichio.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Riise (Diao 79), Diouf (Heskey 69), Murphy (Cheyrou 83), Hamann, Gerrard, Owen, Baros. Subs Not Used: Smicer, Arphexad. Booked: Traore. Goals: Owen 15, Baros 47, Owen 49, 61, 67, Baros 84.
Referee: D Gallagher.
