Owen breaks record but Liverpool are held

UEFA Cup round-up

UEFA Cup round-up

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier admitted to feeling a sense of relief at Michael Owen's record-breaking goal in Slovenia tonight.

Owen's 78th-minute header was his 21st goal in European competition - taking him past Ian Rush - and earned Houllier's men a 1-1 draw against Olimpija Ljubljana in the UEFA Cup first round first leg clash.

Houllier said: "I felt relief when he scored and also hope because when you score away from home it may be vital for the second leg.

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"Their goalkeeper kept them in the game for a long time - and it's just a shame we conceded a goal.

"We could have scored more today but it was a difficult pitch and sometimes we couldn't find the final pass. And when we did find it their goalkeeper was in good form."

Liverpool went behind on 66 minutes when Jusufbeaovic was given too much time to set up a shot that cannoned back off the post but Zlogar followed up to fire the ball home.

Elsewhere, Robbie Fowler found his goalscoring boots at just the right time to spare David Seaman a UEFA Cup embarrassment.

Manchester City looked to be heading for a shock home defeat to Belgian League basement dwellers Lokeren until Fowler's third goal for the club inspired a late rally which saw Nicolas Anelka rasp home the winner (3-2) from the penalty spot.

After a series of recent blunders, Seaman was involved in a 14th minute mix-up with Sun Jihai which gifted Patrick Zoundi an equaliser and saw the veteran keeper subjected to ironic applause from his own supporters for the remainder of the contest.

With Runar Kristinsson grabbing another before the interval to turn the match on its head after Antoine Sibierski's had netted an early free-kick City seemed set to face an onerous task to turn the game round in three weeks time.

But Fowler's instinctive reaction to Sibierski's nod down pulled the Blues level and Anelka put the Blues in front two minutes later.

Striker Craig Bellamy rediscovered his scoring touch to launch Newcastle's new European adventure in style.

The Welshman, who went into the game without a goal for his club in 10 appearances, collected two within six first-half minutes to pave the way for a crushing 5-0 victory over NAC Breda.

Titus Bramble, Alan Shearer and substitute Darren Ambrose completed the rout.

Southampton marked their return to European competition following a 19-year absence with a 1-1 home draw with Steaua Bucharest.

Claudiu Raducanu gave the Romanians a surprise 20th-minute lead after Southampton started in nervous fashion.

But striker Kevin Phillips equalised seven minutes into the second half to salvage some pride for the home fans.