Vladimir Smicer's piledriver is on its way in

Heskey took it in his stride and whipped a left-footed cross into the middle.

It found Smicer, who quickly sized up the situation.

The Czech had little or no time to control the ball and get in a strike, so he opted to shoot first time.

There is no more difficult task than to volley a ball accurately, but Smicer displayed the perfect technique.

He got his body-shape just right, and keeping his eye on the ball, ensured he had his knee over the ball when he struck it.

The ball was struck as sweet as a nut, and never went above head height as it fizzed into the goal to put Liverpool top of the table.