England's Euro 2004 qualifying win over Slovakia bore the mark of Merseyside after two superb performances from Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard helped rescue what seemed to be a lost cause.

Following a dreadful first half display by the home side, Owen won and converted an equalising penalty and then nodded home a cross from Liverpool team mate Gerrard to secure a 2-1 victory in Group Seven on Wednesday.

It made for a memorable night for Owen, who wore the captain's armband in place of a suspended David Beckham and became England's youngest player to earn 50 caps, at 23.

Owen's leadership from the front in England's last qualifier of a gruelling season vindicated his manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who had predicted: "As a captain, he will do as well as David, I'm sure about that."

His goals also took Owen's England tally to 22, keeping him well on course to beat Bobby Charlton's record of 49.

LIVERPOOL TRAINING

Owen was assisted in his search for a penalty by Marian Zeman's rash challenge, but the match-winning header was unstoppable. It was also straight off the Liverpool training ground.

While much is made of the Manchester United influence on England, through Beckham's understanding with Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers, Wednesday was a timely reminder of the value of the Liverpool connection.

Gerrard spends much of his working life trying to put through-balls behind defences for Owen to run on to and he supplied a killer pass in the very first minute. His team mate, for once, failed to provide the killer finish.

That was the highlight of the first 45 minutes for England who could have found themselves two or three goals behind at the break, rather than just one, but for wasteful Slovak finishing.

The England defence badly missed centre backs Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell but the cohesion at the back improved markedly in the second half.

For striker Wayne Rooney, lacklustre and substituted in the second half, the game was a bridge too far in a season he had started as a 16-year-old hopeful on the Everton bench.

By staying two points behind Turkey and holding a game in hand, England achieved their objective in Middlesbrough, albeit in a heart-stopping, erratic style.

The other good news for England fans, and anguished United supporters alike, was that success in football is indeed possible without David Beckham.