Lion of the Weekend: Emile Heskey
Monday, 03 November, 2003
Despite a bruised toe, Emile Heskey scored his third goal of the week at Fulham
Despite a bruised toe, Emile Heskey scored his third goal of the week at Fulham on Sunday and his outstanding volley proved critical as Liverpool took the points with a 2-1 victory...
"Strong, powerful and quick. He has everything really." - Gerard Houllier
"Stole across his marker for his volley" - The Times
"Sweetly-taken goal" - The Independent
Emile Heskey is not only strong and fast. He is also brave and unselfish. For 75 minutes he ignored the pain from a bruised toe to help Liverpool gain the result at Fulham they so badly needed. It followed his two midweek goals against Blackburn in the Carling Cup. Not bad for a striker sometimes criticised for not scoring enough.
With Michael Owen just returning from injury, Heskey knew there was plenty of responsibility on him at Loftus Road. And he delivered in spectacular style, sprinting ahead of his marker Andy Melvile to volley home Steve Finnan's cross.Heskey proceeded to lead the line and had another shot cleared off the line before Houllier spared his foot any more pain by replacing him with 15 minutes left.
Although Heskey has had his critics, notable managers including Martin O'Neill, Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran Eriksson and Houllier himself have always counted on him. Houllier says: "He has got everything really. With a little more self-belief, who knows what he can be capable of."
TheFA.com will announce their Lion of the Weekend every Monday. A Lion of the Season award will be announced in May based on the number of weekly nominations