Michael Owen has the yard he needs to lob Liverpool's winner

And it also showed just how important the Liverpool pair will be to England's World Cup hopes.

When Gerrard picked up the ball in the Sunderland half, he would have known his team-mate was ready to probe down the inside-right channel.

As a striker who lives on the shoulder of the last defender, Owen needed to time his run to perfection to avoid being caught offside.

He timed and bent his run perfectly to not only avoid the flag, but also to give him a head start on Sunderland defender Joachim Bjorklund.

The weight of Gerrard's pass was perfect, allowing Owen to move on to it without breaking stride, almost like a well-rehearsed sprint-relay baton-exchange.

There was still some work for Owen to do, but Thomas Sorensen's advance exposed him no man's land.

Owen received a kindly bobble of the ball to enable him to just lever his foot under the ball and loft it over the beached Sunderland goalkeeper.