Birthday boy Robbie turns back the clock
Benitez brought Fowler back to Anfield precisely for moments like this. Confronted by an awkward, if unimaginative, Bolton, and struggling to find their own rhythm, Liverpool were crying out for a moment of inspiration that would maintain their fading hopes of claiming the runners-up spot.
That moment was never likely to come from the frustratingly ineffective Peter Crouch and Djibril Cisse, and it took a typically instinctive effort from Fowler on the stroke of half-time to keep the Merseysiders in sight of Manchester United.
Having overtaken Kenny Dalglish in the list of Liverpool goal-scorers at West Bromwich Albion, the forward marked his 31st birthday with his 174th goal for the club and, more pertinently, his third in nine league games since returning to the club on a short-term deal last January.
“It’s his birthday and scoring goals is the best thing for a striker,” Benitez said. “But I am not going to talk about his contract. I like to see him scoring goals and to see him playing well.”
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce was less reluctant to praise the efforts of a player who has now scored 12 goals in 13 appearances against Wanderers and was yesterday responsible for inflicting a fourth successive defeat on Allardyce’s side.
“That goal was what Robbie Fowler is all about,” Allardyce said. “He didn’t hit it as well as he could but it still went into the bottom corner.”
Anxious to guarantee Champions League qualification by finishing in the top three, Benitez admitted Liverpool are now almost there having extended their lead over fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur to nine points.
“We have 70 points and that would normally ensure you finish in the top three now,” he added. “And we are really close to making sure of the top three. One more win should be enough because I think Spurs have got to play against Arsenal so that means one of them will drop points.”
For Bolton, though, the picture is altogether more bleak: they now lie five points behind sixth-placed Arsenal and the chances of them returning to European competition are disappearing fast.
It could have been an altogether different outcome for Allardyce’s side had they made more of two clear chances that fell their way in the opening eight minutes.
A trademark free kick routine created an opening for Kevin Davies that the striker spurned in the fifth minute, then three minutes later Stelios blew a one on one opportunity that Allardyce described as “the best chance of the match for either side.”
Liverpool were frankly awful, with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso failing to click in midfield and Cisse offering 45 minutes of under-achievement before being replaced at half-time by Luis Garcia.
By then, though, Liverpool had unexpectedly nudged ahead when Bolton failed to deal with Carragher’s long punt into the area, allowing Fowler and Crouch to combine before Fowler finished from the edge of the box.
The introduction of Garcia at least sparked Liverpool’s creative side and they grew in authority as Bolton confidence visibly waned and Benitez appeared simply relieved to have come through the afternoon unscathed.
“We knew it would be a physical game. We couldn’t control the second ball in the first half but we did that better in the second half, even though we struggled to find the final pass in the last third of the field,” Benitez said.
Quite how they would have coped without Fowler’s eye for goal is a different matter entirely.
: Robbie Fowler has now scored 12 goals in 12 Premiership starts against Bolton.
: Bolton have failed to win away (in all competitions) in their last nine games.
: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise; Cisse (Garcia h-t), Alonso, Gerrard, Kewell (Traore 88); Crouch, Fowler (Hamann 76). Subs: Dudek, Garcia, Hamann, Traore, Sissoko.
: Jaaskelainen; Hunt, Ben Haim, N’Gotty, Gardner; Stelios (Pedersen 53), Faye (Campo 74), Okocha (Jansen 62), Speed, Nolan; Davies.
: Walker, Campo, Pedersen, Jansen, Borgetti.
: R Styles.
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