England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was at Anfield last night to see Emile Heskey

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was at Anfield last night to see Emile Heskey burst back into goalscoring form as Liverpool thrashed Spartak Moscow 5-0 to rekindle their Champions League hopes.

Heskey grabbed two goals and created another for Salif Diao in a display that had boss Gerard Houllier crowing: "Emile had power, strength and speed, and that was very important against Moscow, he was outstanding."

Heskey has been used in midfield on many occasions, and this term has seen Milan Baros and El-Hadji Diouf weigh in up-front.

But against the Russian champions, Heskey returned to his favoured role partnering the outstanding Michael Owen in a strike-force that caused constant strain on the Spartak defence, and ruined Goalkeeper Cherchessov's night.

Houllier added: "It was the right time to put Emile back in as a striker. He was excellent against Manchester City, and he was important for us against Spartak with his qualities.

"He scored two, made another for Diao. I knew it was the right time to put him back up front."

Houllier, who last week saw his side create 27 chances and score just once, witnessed his team take that total over the 50-mark in two games, and said: "I still can't believe that we didn't score more against Basle.

"But this time the scoreline didn't flatter us, it could have been a lot more.

And Houllier had praise for his number 10 who looked far more confident around the pitch despite not adding to the scoreline himself:

"Michael Owen may not have scored, but he was excellent, he created chances for others. Maybe we didn't need him to score this time, just let the rest do it. He scores goals to win matches and this time he made goals for others to do the same. The Frenchman added: "We played some fine football, we had a high tempo from the start and we made Spartak look ordinary.

"Our running off the ball, our width and creative play, were the foundations to this result. This time we created the chances and scored them.

"We now go to Moscow for our next match in a fortnight, and hopefully our excellent away form in the Premiership will help us to do well there, too.

"One game is never like another, but we are ready to go to Moscow and get a positive result."

But before The Reds go to Moscow, Owen and Heskey have two important matches for their country, and if they repeat this kind of performance, Sven, and England, will be rubbing their hands together.