Owen silences his critics

Portsmouth should have known Michael Owen would not let them escape twice.

The England striker, whose penalty miss against the south-coast club in the FA Cup last month took him to his lowest ebb, delivered the perfect response with two goals in Liverpool's 3-0 victory over Portsmouth at Anfield on Wednesday.

Owen also created Dietmar Hamann's stupendous volley for Liverpool's first goal with a well-executed pass in an all round display to warm the hearts of the Anfield faithful and England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Gone was the tentative player who stepped up to take the spot kick at Fratton Park on February 22.

Ashen-faced, Owen looked more like a nervous debutant than one of the world's most feared strikers as he tamely shot too close to Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.

Portsmouth hung on for a 1-0 victory in the fifth-round replay and Owen admitted this week it was "one of my lowest points ever".

"That day was as bad as I have ever felt. I was so low I just wanted to wrap the season up there and then," he said.

It was hard to believe this was the same player who, as a raw 18-year-old, dismantled the entire Argentina defence in 1998 to score one of the great World Cup goals and then slotted home a penalty in the shootout, which England eventually lost, for good measure.

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Owen missed again from the penalty spot on Sunday against Southampton and before the Portsmouth game had managed only three goals in his previous 17 Liverpool outings, a dire strike rate for a player who has scored 24 goals in 54

England caps.

On Wednesday, though, the Owen of old was back and he killed off Portsmouth with a decisive right-foot finish after 28 minutes and a neat header on the hour.

In both cases Owen had little time to think before executing and he will now hope the mental demons that have dogged him of late are now exorcised.

CHINS UP

The double lifted his season's tally to 11 goals from 20 league games, a respectable ratio given the injuries that, once again, have dogged the 24-year-old this season.

More important, it lifted Anfield chins after another season of stagnation. Liverpool are now fifth, only one place away from the passport to the Champions League that is the minimum requirement for manager Gerard Houllier.

Should they achieve that, both club and country will benefit. Owen is much more likely to sign the contract extension currently under negotiation before heading off to Portugal to spearhead England's Euro 2004 bid.

"Michael is special and he showed it tonight," Houllier said after Wednesday's match. "What will the goals do for Michael now? What do you think two good goals like that will do for him?"