Twenty-five years ago today, me and my Arsenal team-mates were caught up in a storm at Anfield as Robbie Fowler — just 19 at the time — scored three times in four minutes. It does not feel like it was a quarter of a century ago, let me tell you.
Watching back the footage of that 3-0 defeat on Tuesday, you had to admire Fowler. His presence would cause panic. He was an opportunist. We were in England squads together and I’m not sure I worked with a more natural finisher. Give him a sniff and he’d score, and that is what happened on August 28, 1994.
Looking back, this match may have come too soon for me. I remember I’d suffered a bad calf injury in pre-season.
In our first Premier League fixture of the season against Manchester City, I came on in the 89th minute. In our second fixture, I came on in the 62nd. Then in our third, I’m starting against Liverpool. Fowler took full advantage. Sometimes, though, you just have to applaud a fantastic finisher doing what he does best.
The first goal, I went for a wild header against Ian Rush and the ball ricocheted into the feet of Fowler. He was in the right place at the right time, and buried his shot beyond David Seaman. Like I said, one mistake, and he would punish you.
The second goal, our defence was backing off. Fowler knew he had to get the ball through Lee Dixon’s legs if he was to score. He did just that, and his shot went in off the post. Pure precision.
The third goal came when a coming together between me and Seaman left neither of us with the ball. It trickled through to Fowler, who completed his hat-trick.
What is it about left footers and the way they finish? Look at Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah. Fowler knew how to open up his body and make the goal seem enormous. What a striker he was and a good guy to boot.
