"When Emile is at his best he is one of the best strikers in Europe."
                  Gerard Houllier

AUGUST 5
Houllier praises Reds

LFC Official Website

Gerard Houllier has praised the attitude of his team after they cantered to a 5-1 victory at Aberdeen in their penultimate pre-season friendly.

Neil Mellor scored twice while Danny Murphy, Emile Heskey and Harry Kewell all grabbed a goal apiece as Liverpool bounced back from conceding an early goal to cruise to victory.

They could even afford the luxury of a missed penalty when Florent Sinama-Pongolle saw his effort from twelve yards saved by the Aberdeen goalkeeper.

"The team spirit was great," said Houllier. "They all worked hard for each other and wanted to win. I like the way Danny offered the penalty to Florent because he was hoping he would score to get a confidence boost. It was a nice touch and was just a shame that the penalty was missed.

"It was a very professional performance overall. This was our third game in five days but we wanted to come here to celebrate Aberdeen's 100th year. I thought we were unlucky to come in at half time at 1-1 as we had some good chances. In the second half the players' passing and movement was brilliant."

Houllier was also full of praise for Emile Heskey, who netted his sixth pre-season goal, and Harry Kewell after the Australian star opened his Liverpool account with a second half strike.

"When Emile is at his best he is one of the best strikers in Europe," said Houllier. "He is quick and powerful, can use both feet and when he turns and runs at the defender he can be unstoppable at times. His goal was brilliant.

"Harry's was a great goal made after a good pass from Micael Owen. Harry also made the pass to Emile for his goal and showed his quality."

AUGUST 5
Kewell nets first goal as Reds triumph

LFC Official Website

Harry Kewell netted his first goal for Liverpool as the Reds returned to winning ways in their pre-season preparations with an excellent 5-1 success against Aberdeen at Pittodrie tonight.

After two disappointing performances in Amsterdam over the weekend, Gerard Houllier would have been looking for more positive signs that his players were gearing up for the new season and they didn't let him down as they battled back from a goal behind to run out comfortable winners.

Kewell's goal - a delightful finish following good work by Michael Owen - came during Liverpool's best spell of the game early in the second half during which Emile Heskey had given Liverpool the lead after Danny Murphy's first half strike had cancelled out David Zdrilic's first minute goal.

Liverpool got off to the worst possible start and were behind after just sixty seconds when David Zdrilic fired the ball past Chris Kirkland from inside the penalty area.

The Australian international only received his work permit to play in the game earlier in the day but he wasted no time in endearing himself to his new fans at Pittodrie by blasting the ball into the corner of the net after Sami Hyypia had failed to deal with Aberdeen's first attack of the game.

Just as questions were beginning to be asked about how leg-weary Liverpool would respond to the early setback, they answered in emphatic fashion by levelling the scores just six minutes later.

EL Hadji Diouf and Milan Baros created the opportunity down the left hand side and when the ball fell for Murphy outside the area he made no mistake with a well directed volley into the corner of the Aberdeen net.

Liverpool had chances to take a lead in the game but a combination of careless finishing - particularly from Baros and Diouf - and excellent goalkeeping when David Preecee stopped a low drive from Pongolle kept the Reds out.

French striker Pongolle was gifted the perfect chance to open his Liverpool account before the half time whistle when he won a penalty for Gerard Houllier's side following a mazy run inside the area.

Regular taker Danny Murphy offered Pongolle the chance to take the kick, but unfortunately for the youngster he hit his shot too close to Preece in the Aberdeen goal, much to the delight of the home fans who unfairly judged him to have conned the referee to win the spot kick for Liverpool.

Gerard Houllier made ten changes at half time with only Chris Kirkland surviving from the opening 45 minutes, while John Welsh was one of the newcomers to the action to taste first team football for the first time this pre-season.

But it was pre-season star Emile Heskey who gave Liverpool the lead after 50 minutes with his sixth goal of the Reds' summer campaign.

Heskey latched onto a fine ball from Harry Kewell before striding forward and smashing the ball into the corner of the net from a tight angle on the right hand side of the penalty area.

Heskey has been sensational during Liverpool's pre-season programme and, although it may be too early to make predictions for the coming months, there are plenty of signs that the big striker is in the mood to repeat the stunning form which saw him play such an important role in the Reds' treble campaign of a couple of years ago.

Aberdeen were struggling to cope with a much stronger Liverpool team in the second half and it came as no surprise when the visitors increased their lead just six minutes after Heskey's strike.

The goal owed everything to the ability of Michael Owen to speed away from three defenders and then the brilliance in front of goal of Harry Kewell who collected Owen's pass in his stride and then in one movement switched the ball from right foot to left before slotting it into the back of the net.

Owen should have netted Liverpool's fourth of the night midway through the second half when he was left one-on-one with the Aberdeen goalkeeper following a defensive error but he wasted the gilt-edged chance by sliding the ball disappointingly wide of target.

Second half substitute Neil Mellor did finally further confirm Liverpool's superiority with a fourth goal twelve minutes from time.

Bruno Cheyrou tried a shot from distance which fell nicely for Mellor who instinctively turned the ball into the back of the net from close range.

Mellor's night got even better four minutes from time when he netted his second and Liverpool's fifth with a simple tap-in from close range after John Arne Riise had brought a smart save from the Aberdeen goalkeeper.

Liverpool's deserved victory was rewarded with them lifting the ESS Centenary Cup - the third piece of silverware the Reds have collected during pre-season following their triumphs in Bangkok and Hong Kong last month.

Let's hope they represent just a taster of the success we can enjoy at Anfield over the coming season.