Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier paid tribute to Michael Owen on Saturday after the England striker scored four times -- including his 100th premier league goal -- in a 6-0 demolition of West Bromwich Albion.

"It is special for Michael to score 100 goals in the Premiership and his four goals today were outstanding," Houllier told Liverpool's website.

"Michael's all-round game has improved a great deal. You only succeed in this job if you have 100 percent effort, which he always gives.

"He has good skill, his left foot has improved, his heading is a lot better and his link-up play is very good. He is a lot stronger and rarely gives the ball away.

"I think he will probably get his next 100 Premiership goals for Liverpool a lot quicker than his first."

Owen, who had taken his tally to 102 by the final whistle, told Sky Sports: "I needed two today to get to 100 league goals so I'm very pleased to have done it -- and scored a couple more on the way to the next century."

With two matches left to play, victory for Liverpool kept them in the thick of the battle for a third or fourth-place finish which carries a slot in the Champions League qualifiers.

Liverpool still lie fifth but are now level on 64 points with fourth-placed Chelsea, who drew 1-1 in the west London derby with Fulham, and a point behind Newcastle United, who won the northeast derby with Sunderland 1-0. 

Asked about the race for Champions League football, Houllier told Sky Sports: "We don't look at the other teams' results.

"We know what we want and we know what we need to achieve our target and I'm pleased that the players are giving a lot."

Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri, whose team thrashed Everton 4-1 last weekend and will host Liverpool on the final day of the season on May 11, was disappointed that Fulham had succeeded in cutting off the supply lines to his strikers.

"We wanted to win today but it was difficult," Ranieri said.

"We played more or less like we did against Everton -- we tried to move the ball very quickly -- but Fulham closed all the space very well.

"They had one more player in midfield and played with just one up front. It was very difficult to find Gianfranco (Zola) and Jimmy (Floyd Hasselbaink) today.

"When we scored we tried to score again, but there were two great saves. I think they deserved to draw."

Newcastle boss Bobby Robson said his men had also struggled against the determination of derby rivals, even though Sunderland were already relegated.

"It was terse, tight and tense, I don't think there's any doubt about that, and one goal is not a cushion," Robson said.

"I have to give a great deal of credit to Sunderland because they were very combative all the way through, they never let us settle on the ball to construct football.

"We had a bit more pace and penetration, and perhaps a bit more ability in the side. But they tried to cancel that out with a high work rate and by and large they went a long way to doing that."

England's teenage striker Wayne Rooney scored a stoppage time winner that gave Everton a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa, keeping them on course for a UEFA Cup place.

Everton boss David Moyes, who felt Rooney had a mixed game, said: "We carved out some openings and didn't take them and allowed Aston Villa to take one of theirs and put us on the back foot... But it ended well."

As for 17-year-old Rooney's contribution, he said: "It was a big result for us today and he scored a wonderful goal from the edge of the box with his left foot, so we were pleased with him.

"Bits of his play today were good, and inspired us, but there were other bits which made him look as if he was just off a little bit from where he's been in the past."

Everton are sixth on 59 points, three ahead of Blackburn Rovers, who beat struggling Leeds United 3-2.

Leeds' caretaker manager Peter Reid pointed at his side's weak point, saying: "You can't afford defending like that at this level.

"I can't fault my players for the effort they put in, but certainly really naive defending, or poor defending, has cost us."