Continuing the series
where I look back at my five favourite wins by Liverpool against their upcoming
opponents. This weekend Liverpool play
against Fulham at Anfield. Here are my
five favourite wins from past encounters.
23rd September
1986, League Cup Second Round, 1st leg
LIVERPOOL (4) 10 (Rush 8, 76, Wark
10, 63, Whelan 28, McMahon 44, 66, 71, 79, Nicol 83)
FULHAM (0) 0
LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Gillespie, Lawrenson, Hansen, Beglin; Nicol,
Wark, McMahon, Whelan; Rush Dalglish
FULHAM: Vaughan; Marshall, Scott, Hoddy, Cottington; Achampong,
Lewington, Barnett, Parker; Coney, Kerrins
This series has solely
concentrated on First Division/Premier League meetings since 1975. However, there haven’t been as many games
between these two at Anfield during that time, as other fixtures. So, I’ve included a couple of League Cup
meetings. The first is a classic
encounter from the 1986-87 season.
The League Cup, sponsored
by Littlewoods, had reached the Second Round which was over two legs. However, after the first 45 minutes the tie
was effectively over. Liverpool, who
were double winners the season before had just been beaten at Southampton in
the League. Fulham were in the Third
Division (now League One) having suffered relegation the season before, had
just won games against Bolton and Notts County and in buoyant mood. But it was all to come crashing down around
them.
Only 13,498 turned up at
Anfield but those who did were in for a real treat. Fulham could’ve taken the lead but Dean Coney
miscued his shot and the chance had gone begging. Then 8 minutes in and Ian Rush put the home
side in front. Two minutes later and
John Wark had doubled the lead. Ronnie
Whelan grabbed the third goal before Steve McMahon made it 4-0 just before
half-time. McMahon was to end up with
the man-of-the-match award to cap a memorable night for Dalglish’s first
signing as manager. In the second half
was when the home side ran riot but they didn’t add to their tally until after
the hour when John Wark scored his 2nd of the night. Three minutes later and McMahon got his 2nd
as well as Liverpool moved into a 6-0 lead.
Liverpool were then awarded a penalty, which McMahon took to try and
complete his hat-trick – he missed. But
it didn’t take him long to make amends as McMahon got his third on 71
minutes. Ian Rush, who started it all,
then scored his 2nd of the night to make it 8-0, before McMahon
netted his 4th of the night to make it 9-0. With still 7 minutes on the clock, Steve
Nicol became the 5th scorer of the night and Liverpool had reached
double figures. 10-0 is still a record
in the League Cup and was just one of those nights when everything went right
for the home side and wrong for the visitors.
Ian Rush later described
their finishing as ‘razor-sharp’ and said the keeper ‘didn’t stand a chance’. He also reckoned he could’ve had 4 goals
himself but had to settle for just 2.
Liverpool went onto win the 2nd leg 3-2 for an easy aggregate
win, 13-2. They reached the Final of the
competition but lost to Arsenal, 1-2 in the first game they had lost when Ian
Rush scored. They would also finish 2nd
in the League to Everton. Fulham
finished 18th in the Third Division, just 3 places off another
relegation.
5th October 1993,
League Cup Second Round, 2nd Leg
LIVERPOOL (2) 5 (Fowler 13, 21, 47, 55, 70)
FULHAM (0) 0
LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Jones, Wright, Ruddock, Dicks; Stewart,
Clough, Redknapp, Hutchisonn; Fowler, Rush
FULHAM: Stannard; Morgan, Angus, Ferney, Pike; Eckhardt, Thomas,
Onwere, Kelly (Jupp); Farrell, Brazil
Seven years after
suffering their worst defeat back in 1986, Fulham were drawn against Liverpool
again in the League Cup Second Round.
Fulham were still in the third tier of English football and had beaten
Colchester to get here. Another sparse
crowd for a League Cup match turned up and witnessed a goalscoring sensation
come of age. The game was all about one
man, Robbie Fowler.
Liverpool had won the 1st
leg, 3-1 with Fowler scoring the third goal.
It was his debut for the club, which made his exploits in the 2nd
leg all the more reason to take notice.
Within the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd leg, he’d extended
Liverpool’s aggregate lead. Rob Jones
hit a powerful shot from about 30 yards which Fulham keeper, Jim Stannard could
only parry, and the 18 year old Fowler pounced to open the scoring. Soon after, Liverpool had a free-kick in the
penalty area, and instead of blasting the ball at the wall, Ruddock played it
square where Fowler fired it into the net for his 2nd of the
night. 2-0 it was at half-time but the
second half belonged to Fowler. Within
two minutes of the re-start, Fowler completed his hat-trick as Rob Jones joined
the attack on the right and squared the ball for Fowler to score from close
range. Before then, Grobbelaar had been
called upon to make a double save to deny the visitors but that was really the
last they were able to muster by way of a challenge.
Ten minutes into the
second half and Fowler had his 4th goal as he headed in a Julian
Dicks cross. Liverpool were now rampant
as the visitors suffered for the their first-half efforts and with still 20
minutes of the game remaining, Jamie Redknapp played a great through ball for
Fowler to run onto and slotted the ball past Stannard for his 5th
goal of the night. He became the 5th
Liverpool player to score 5 goals or more in the same game, and had announced
himself on the stage with a bang. 5
goals, one with his head, one with his right and the other three with his left.
This was a disappointing
season for both clubs. Liverpool
finished 8th in the League.
They went out in Round Four of the League Cup losing to Wimbledon in a
penalty shootout and then suffered the embarrassment of being dumped out in the
FA Cup at home to Bristol City. For
Fulham, this season represented a nadir as they were relegated to English
football’s basement.
15th March
2006
LIVERPOOL (2) 5 (Fowler 16, Brown og 34, Morientes
70, Crouch 89,
Warnock 90)
FULHAM (1) 1 (John 25)
LIVERPOOL: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Traore; Garcia, Gerrard,
Hamann, Kewell (Warnock); Morientes (Crouch), Fowler (Cisse)
FULHAM: Warner; Knight, Rosenior, Pearce, Bridge; Pembridge, Brown,
Malbranque, Radzinski; Boa Morte, John
Twelve and a half years
after Robbie Fowler tormented Fulham in the League Cup, he was back at Anfield
in his second spell with the club. He’d
had a goal disallowed on his first game back against Birmingham but had yet to
find the net after his dream move back to the place where he made his
name. It was almost as if he was waiting
for Fulham, as 16 minutes into the game he gave the home side the lead.
Harry Kewell took a
corner on the left which was flicked on by Luis Garcia and Fowler was at the
far post to head the ball in. The crowd
went wild and Fowler had now drawn level with Kenny Dalglish in the all-time
goalscoring list for the club with 172 goals.
Ten minutes later and Collins John had equalised for the visitors as he
ran onto a good ball from Boa Morte.
Fulham were sitting in 16th place in the Premier League,
which illustrated how far the club had come since the ‘Fowler-game’ in
1993. After 34 minutes Liverpool
restored their lead when Fowler and Garcia combined to put Kewell away on the
right and his cross was turned into his own net by Michael Brown.
In the second half Luis
Garcia was unlucky to hit the angle of the post and bar and then in the 70th
minute Cisse’s header was palmed out by former Liverpool reserve keeper, Tony
Warner, and Fernando Morientes was on hand to turn the ball in for his first
goal for three months. As full time
approached, Benitez sent on Peter Crouch to replace Morientes and he scored Liverpool’s
4th. Cisse’s cross into the
area was volleyed back across by Gerrard and Crouch converted the
opportunity. Soon after, in injury time,
Steve Finnan’s close range shot was blocked by Warner only for Stephen Warnock
to score his first goal for Liverpool and complete the scoring. 5-1 probably flattered the home side as
Fulham had done well to repel them for most of the game but the night belonged
to Fowler.
Liverpool ended the
season 3rd in the table and won the FA Cup beating West Ham on
penalties. Fulham finished the season in
12th comfortably clear of relegation.
9th December 2006
LIVERPOOL (0) 4 (Gerrard
54, Carragher 60, Garcia 66,
Gonzalez 90)
FULHAM (0) 0
LIVERPOOL: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Riise; Garcia (Fowler),
Gerrard, Alonso; Pennant, Kuyt (Gonzalez), Bellamy (Crouch)
FULHAM: Lastuvka; Knight, Volz, Pearce, Rosenior; Boa Morte,
Jensen, Brown, Diop (Christanval); McBride (John), Radzinski
Fulham’s
next visit to Anfield was another blow to their goal difference. Liverpool were in 5th after 16
matches and still unbeaten at home.
Fulham were down in 13th with just 1 win on the road. Liverpool had just returned from Turkey in
their latest Champions League group match where they would eventually reach the
Final.
Both sides
had chances in the first half with Pennant and Kuyt going close for the home
side and McBride being denied by a great save from Reina. The first half ended goalless, more due to
Liverpool’s lack of a cutting edge in front of goal, than a determined Fulham
defensive display, although there was no doubt they were making it difficult.
Ten minutes
into the second period and Liverpool were awarded a penalty. Ian Pearce blocked a shot from Dirk Kuyt and
the referee had no doubt about the decision.
Steven Gerrard stepped up and hit it low to the keeper’s left, but
Lastuvka saved it only for Gerrard to score from the rebound. This seemed to be the breakthrough Liverpool
required as they now stormed the Fulham goal.
Gerrard took a corner on the left which Agger flicked on and at the far
post, Jamie Carragher arrived to stab the ball home. It was Carragher’s first goal since he scored
in the 7-1 win over Southampton in January 1999. Six minutes later and Kuyt took a throw on
the left wing to Alonso who turned back onto his right foot and his cross was
converted by Luis Garcia with a glancing header and Liverpool were 3-0 up
having scored 3 in 12 minutes.
Fulham were
now just playing out time but Liverpool weren’t finished as Benitez sent on
Gonzalez, Crouch and Fowler. It was
Fowler who was brought down just outside the area by Boa Morte as he ran at the
Fulham defence. From the resulting
free-kick, Mark Gonzalez stepped up and curled the ball beautifully past
Lastuvka to complete the scoring. Fulham
must’ve been getting fed-up with Anfield as they’d turned up twice in 2006 and
conceded 9.
Liverpool
ended the season in 3rd in the League and were beaten finalists in
the Champions League. Fulham finished 16th
just 1pt above the relegation zone.
22nd December
2012
LIVERPOOL (2) 4 (Skrtel 8, Gerrard 36, Downing
52, Suarez 90)
FULHAM (0) 0
LIVERPOOL: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique; Gerrard, Lucas
(Carragher); Suso (Sterling), Shelvey (Allen), Downing; Suarez
FULHAM: Schwarzer; Riether, Hangeland, Hughes, Riise; Kacaniklic
(Rodallega), Baird, Karagounis, Richardson (Frei); Dejagah, Berbatov
As Christmas 2012
approached these two clubs were next to each other in the table with Liverpool
12th and Fulham 13th.
After recovering from a poor start, Liverpool had begun to find some
form under Brendan Rodgers but were brought back down to earth the week before
when Aston Villa comfortably beat them at Anfield. Fulham, though, were in worse shape as they’d
only won 1 of their previous 9 coming into this fixture.
These were still early
days of the new Rodgers-regime at Anfield and you were never really sure what
you were going to get. But from a Steven
Gerrard corner on the right the ball dropped to Martin Skrtel who thumped it
into the back of the net, to give the home side an 8th minute
lead. Liverpool then doubled their lead 10
minutes before the break from a lovely flowing move. Shelvey began things in the centre-circle,
finding Glen Johnson alone on the right touchline. Johnson took the ball down with his chest and
ran at the Fulham defence, eventually cutting inside to lay the ball back to
Stewart Downing. Downing had just
spotted a diagonal run from Gerrard and he played a beautifully weighted ball
past three defenders for the Liverpool captain to run onto and he finished in
style in the bottom corner. Downing’s brief
Liverpool career looked to at an end as the manager had made it very clear he
doubted the England winger’s value to the team.
But this game was to delay his execution to the end of the season.
Seven minutes into the
second half and Downing showed more evidence of his talent as Gerrard found him
on the right wing and as he reached the area, he cut onto his left foot and
unleashed a fierce shot which went inside the keeper’s near post. It was Downing’s first Premier League goal
since arriving at the club in July 2011 and Liverpool were now comfortably in a
three goal lead. Fulham’s keeper, Mark
Schwarzer, did his best to keep the score down but in injury time great work
from Jose Enrique down the left, saw him pull the ball back from the bye-line
and Luis Suarez scored to give Liverpool their biggest win of the season at
Anfield thus far. Of Downing, Rodgers
said after that he would consider keeping the player if he continued to put in
performances like that. Downing was able
to delay his eventual transfer to the summer when he moved to West Ham.
Liverpool eventually
found some consistency with their play and ended 7th in the
League. Fulham were rarely away from
mid-table for the rest of the season as they ended 12th.
HEAD TO HEAD at Anfield
Matches: 30
Liverpool win: 22
Fulham win: 1
Draws: 7
Liverpool goals: 81
Fulham goals: 17
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