Ipswich boss Burley looked on helplessly

Worse was to follow for Ipswich on 35 minutes when Vladimir Smicer was allowed to carry the ball from deep in his own half.

The Czech was finally challenged on the edge of the Ipswich box, but the ball rolled to the rampaging Riise and he slammed a rasping left-foot shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Smicer had only been on the field for two minutes, as he had replaced Gerrard after the England star stretched his right groin muscle.

The substitution was described as "precautionary", and the player did not look to be in any pain, but Sven-Goran Eriksson will be justifiably concerned.

The good news, however, continued for the home side only one minute after the re-start.

First, Titus Bramble made a terrible mess of a Jerzy Dudek goal-kick to allow Owen in for Liverpool's third.

Smicer then rode his luck through two tackles before finishing expertly in the 57th minute.

Hamann and Liverpool won the midfield tussle

It now looked like a question of when, rather than whether, Liverpool would score again - with Emile Heskey and Owen linking delightfully on more than one occasion.

The feel-good factor at Anfield was emphasised when Gary McAllister was brought on in the 82nd minute to make his last appearance in a Liverpool shirt before joining Coventry as player-manager.

But it was left to the late substitute Nicolas Anelka to put a seal on the game.

The on-loan striker, seeking a permanent move to Liverpool, converted Owen's superb through-ball to provide the most emphatic end to Ipswich's day and Premiership tenure.