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| Michael Owen scores Liverpool's third (© Allsport) |
Lightning-quick Liverpool won their fifth piece of silverware inside six months tonight with a pacy performance to defeat German giants Bayern Munich 3-2 in the European Super Cup.
Gerard Houllier's resurgent Premiership outfit shredded the reigning European Champions to pieces thanks to the sheer speed of England internationals Michael Owen and Emile Heskey.
Owen scored one and set up another while Emile Heskey scored a brilliant individual effort as Liverpool added the Super Cup to the English Charity Shield and last season's historic treble of League, FA and UEFA Cups.
Bayern rallied to come back from 3-0 down to score two second-half consolation goals and finished the game streaming forward but Liverpool hung on for a deserved win.
The win rounded off a fine week for Liverpool which saw the Merseysiders finally end their 16-year exile from the elite of European football by booking their place in this season's Champions League first phase.
Liverpool took the lead with a wonderfully worked goal in the 23rd minute. Tenacious England midfielder Steven Gerrard picked the ball up in midfield and clipped a gem of a pass over the top for Owen, whose searing speed took him clear down the right flank.
Owen's firm, low cross was met by Liverpool's Norwegian summer signing John Arne Riise - a former Monaco favourite - who slid the ball home to the delight of Liverpool's meagre contingent of fans.
Owen ought to have made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, when an excellent through ball from strike partner Emile Heskey put him through on goal.
But a fine save from Bayern skipper Oliver Kahn snuffed out the opportunity to the relief of an increasingly porous German defence.
Liverpool's second finally came on the stroke of half-time with a wonderful solo effort from Heskey. Nothing seemed to be on when the powerfully built striker controlled a ball from Riise near the edge of the area.
An exquisite touch and turn from the big forward embarrassed Thomas Linke and Pablo Thiam in the Bayern defence, leaving Heskey free to poke a well-taken finish past the advancing Kahn for 2-0.
Liverpool's third came within 13 seconds of the restart. Owen again raced clear of the defence but this time made no mistake when through on Kahn, hitting an angled left-foot shot into the far corner of the Bayern goal.
Bayern gained a consolation goal when Bosnian international Hasan Salihamidzic headed in a Hargreaves corner on 56 minutes, but Liverpool's livewire attack meant the Germans were fully occupied in defence.
Carsten Jancker - a second-half substitute for Claudio Pizarro - made it 3-2 with a backward header on 81 minutes, but Bayern were unable to find an equaliser.
The extra five yards of speed in the Liverpool attack had been apparent throughout the opening 45 minutes.
Owen's acceleration had tested the Bayern defence as early as the fourth minute, the 21-year-old England international bursting clear down the right wing after a quick throw-in from Dietmar Hamann.
Bayern reacted quickly to the danger on that occasion however, clearing Owen's centre to Heskey for a corner.
But Owen had Bayern's defence scrambling again shortly afterwards, Robert Kovac hauling the striker down on the left-hand side of the area. Markus Babbel headed over from the subsequent McAllister free-kick.
With Liverpool's defence looking rock-solid thanks to a towering display from skipper Sami Hyypia, Bayern's scoring opportunities were few and far between.
Time and again Hyppia anticipated the danger before it arose, and it left Bayern with only a couple of speculative long-range efforts to show for their first-half industry.
The absence from the Bayern midfield of injured skipper Stefan Effenberg and German international duo Mehmet Scholl and Jens Jeremies was all too apparent.
A volley from Peruvian international Pizarro which blazed over the bar summed up Bayern's frustrations and told the story of a first half where they failed to get a single shot on target.