Aston Villa - 0 Liverpool - 1If Emile Heskey is often criticised for being so anonymous he is in need of the Invisible Man's bandages, it is inconceivable the same charge will ever be levelled at El-Hadji Diouf. Surprisingly chosen to replace Heskey as Michael Owen's strike partner, the Senegal World Cup star rewarded Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier with a translucent Premiership debut.
Everything he does, which can range from the spectacularly good to the embarrassingly bad, is so eye-catching it is as if there were a white spotlight following him around the pitch. Piled up on the credit side were Diouf's swiftness, enthusiasm and close skills which, at one point, saw him leave Lee Hendrie, Peter Crouch and Steve Staunton in his trail.
On the debit side were his irritatingly repetitious moans and dives, a combination of which made him possibly the first man to be booked for throwing himself into the opposition dug-out following a rugby-style hand-off by Gareth Barry.
His complaint to referee Andy D'Urso did not help and a dreadful miss from six yards on the stroke of half-time was a further addition to the charge sheet.
Houllier defended his dug-out tumble, saying: "He is new to English football and I thought the referee should have spoken to him, instead of booking him. I had a word with my player at half-time and he didn't complain again. His skill and work rate are exceptional and you can see that he is something special."
After last week's defeat by Arsenal in the Community Shield, Liverpool's confidence and nerves demanded a good opening to their league programme. Their 47th-minute winner came after Villa full back Mark Delaney slipped as he moved in to prevent Danny Murphy completing a 65-yard run with a short pass to John Arne Riise. With Delaney on his backside, goalkeeper Peter Enckelman ended on his in a vain attempt to prevent Riise's shot going in.
Villa could have protested, rightly, that they did not deserve to be behind at that point, as skipper Steve Staunton had hit both bar and post in one first-half incident. But from that point on, inspired by Steven Gerrard, Liverpool took control in the manner of potential champions. The points should have been sealed when Barry stopped Gerrard's charging run with a crude foul and D'Urso pointed to the penalty spot. But although Owen's kick sent Enckelman the wrong way, the goalkeeper cleared with his right foot.
Owen's shooting boots still need polishing. He allowed Enckelman to make a first-half save to a shot from only seven yards out and took so long to tee up a left-foot effort that Delaney was able to dive in with a covering foot.
ASTON VILLA: Enckelman, Staunton, Mellberg, Alpay, Delaney, De la Cruz, Hendrie, Hitzlsperger (Hadji 76), Barry (Samuel 84), Crouch (Allback 63), Vassell. Subs Not Used: Postma, Boulding. Booked: Alpay, Staunton.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Xavier, Henchoz, Hyypia, Traore, Murphy, Hamann, Gerrard, Riise, Owen (Heskey 81), Diouf (Carragher 90). Subs Not Used: Smicer, Kirkland, Cheyrou. Booked: Diouf, Hamann, Murphy. Goals: Riise 47.
Referee: A D'Urso (Essex).
