"We lost the ball too easily and we found it difficult to defend." Almost unnecessarily, he added: "We need the three points to make us safe as soon as possible." G?rd Houllier, the Liverpool manager, was upbeat "We played some great stuff. The passing and the movement were good and although we gave away the ball occasionally I want the players to know they can make mistakes." Against powder-puff Fulham any error was unlikely to be punished.Both teams entered this match with 4–0 maulings on their minds, although Liverpool had the excuse that their captain, Sami Hyypia, was sent off in the fourth minute at Old Trafford. This time, the disruption came early as Danny Murphy had to withdraw from the side after injuring his neck in the warm-up, although that was a blessing in disguise because his replacement, Vladimir Smicer, was at the game's creative core.As early as the fifth minute Owen had the ball in the Fulham net, only for the effort to be disallowed for offside, and, had it not been for Maik Taylor's saves from the England striker and Milan Baros, Liverpool would have been out of sight before Heskey found the net in the 36th minute.The breakthrough arose from John Arne Riise's free-kick on the right which Fulham failed to clear. Smicer is not noted for his heading but he rose like John Toshack to knock the ball back into the area, and Heskey hooked in for his ninth goal of the season.Three minutes later Smicer set up another opportunity when his instant volleyed pass put Baros ahead of Andy Melville and the Czech striker would have had the goal at his mercy if his control had been anything like adequate. Instead he had the touch of a sledgehammer and that gave Taylor the chance to block.Fulham had barely threatened but they were almost gift-wrapped a chance after 53 minutes when Jerzy Dudek mis-hit a clearance against Steed Malbranque. The rebound fell to Luis Boa Morte, who was robbed of possession by Djimi Traor?ust as he was about to shoot.That suggested a threat to Liverpool's dominance but it was snuffed out on the hour.

A minute earlier Owen had swung and barely connected when Smicer drew the ball back to him and most strikers would have had that on their minds Not Owen. When Smicer put him in, he drew Taylor and slipped the ball under the goalkeeper's body.Fulham stirred themselves for the finale and Louis Saha hit the bar in the 81st minute with a fierce crack from the edge of the area, but that effort summed them up: just lacking. "They look like a team who have lost their soul," Houllier said.Liverpool 2 Fulham 0 Heskey 36, Owen 59Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 42,120. Some goalless draws are filled with incidents and drama but just lack that all-important finishing touch This was no such occasion Yesterday's result was right and fair.

That is, of course, unless you were one of the unlucky ones who had to pay to watch this half-hearted display. Nor will the Maine Road faithful, who have only three more games by which to remember their 80-year stay at the old ground. "There's a danger some of our players are already on holiday mode," Keegan warned. The one positive was Joe Barton's first home appearance for the senior team. "Joey's hungry," Keegan said of the 20-year-old, "and in this team at the moment that really stands out."With Premiership safety guaranteed, Keegan will be looking for improvement between now and the end of the season. His front two of Robbie Fowler and Nicolas Anelka, in particular, looked disinterested, and will have to do better if City are to punctuate next year's move to the Commonwealth Games City of Manchester stadium with travels around Europe. On yesterday's evidence, there is still much work to do.Their only attack of the first half was fashioned in Israel and France but wasted by a young English prospect.