Teenage sensation Michael Owen struck a glorious goal after 17 minutes to put Liverpool back in the title race against Newcastle at Anfield.

The brilliant young striker chested Jason McAteer's pass before firing in a stunning drive off the underside of the bar for his 12th goal of the season.

While starlet Owen was on target, England striker Alan Shearer was on the bench until the 58th minute, until when it had all been Liverpool traffic.

Owen's goal was well taken but came from virtually nothing. Ince lost possession with an ambitious back-heel on the edge of the box.

But he chased after Jon Dahl Tomasson and won it back with a fierce tackle. Although it was from behind, he took the ball cleanly with referee Graham Barber only feet away.

McAteer then fed the ball out to Owen, who chested it on and lashed home a stunning drive off the underside of the bar.

Liverpool were fortunate to escape after 26 minutes when David James came rushing out of his box to get in the way of a Tomasson clear run on goal.

England captain Paul Ince - a steady game despite Alan Shearer's attentions

He was a little lucky to survive that, but when Keith Gillespie collected the ball and cut into the box, the 'keeper spilled the shot straight at Tomasson's feet.

The blond striker tapped it home, but was horrified to discover the offside flag already up against him.

The second half went better for Newcastle after Shearer came on for John Barnes. The former England skipper appeared to spur his side on but the Magpies still lacked poise in front of goal and created few chances.

Robbie Fowler missed a great chance after a Steve McManaman pull-back but generally Liverpool held the ball and passed the ball with greater verve than the visitors.

Newcastle's only realistic efforts came from set pieces. Stuart Pearce's free kick after 64 minutes flashed through the wall and James fumbled again, but this time he was able to retrieve the situation.

Shaka Hislop saved well from a Oyvind Leonhardsen drive and then Fowler cracked a shot off Watson for a corner after McManaman had set him up. From the set-piece Redknapp curled a 20-yarder over the bar.

Kenny Dalglish will now have to turn his attention to Stevenage

In the last ten minutes of the game Newcastle played hopeful balls forward, mainly to their talisman, Shearer, but all to little effect, apart from a few butterflies in the stomach's of home fans. Only another David James loss of concentration would have been profitable to those tactics.

In the end, a game that was billed as another possible seven-goal thriller - like the 4-3 results in this fixture for the last two seasons - drizzled through like a wet weekend in a seaside town in winter.

After the game, Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish did not criticise his players and appeared generally happy apart from the scoreline.

"I think they played as well as they could, they gave it everything and you can't ask for more than that."

The Liverpool boss, Roy Evans, said that the win put the Reds back on course for the Premiership but would not overstate the situation.

"Man United are the team everybody needs to chase ... but we're playing well and we have to keep up the hard work."

FA Cup Third Round Replay

Reading go through to the fourth round and will play Cardiff City on Saturday after dashing non-league Cheltenham's hopes of FA Cup glory.

Trevor Morley took control of the game with his eighth goal of the season - a crisp first-time shot after a surging run from midfielder Jason Bowen.

Cheltenham hit back after 55 minutes through 41-year-old striker, Clive Walker, who lashed in a poacher's goal from two yards out.

The veteran ex-Chelsea player's effort proved to be all for nought when Martyn Booty picked up a clearance following a corner, steadied himself and drove the ball through a crowd of players to beat the unsighted Cheltenham keeper into the far corner.

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