Robbie Fowler celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday with the only goal of a lame game against a Bolton Wanderers team who are doing a sterling job of shooting themselves in the foot. It was the kind of sumptuous finish that helped to earn him the nickname “God” from the Anfield supporters and provided another telling reason why Rafael Benítez would be wise to keep him at the club beyond the summer.
What more Fowler has to do to cement an extension to the six-month contract he signed when he arrived from Manchester City in January is anyone's guess, even if Benítez was again reluctant to entertain talk on the matter. Cissé, on the other hand, could not trap a bag of cement and will surely find himself surplus to requirements when the manager begins his process of reshuffling in the summer.
“It's his (Robbie's) birthday and scoring goals is the best thing for a striker, but we are not talking about his new contract,” Benítez said. “I like to see him scoring goals and playing well, but the most important thing for us is to see him working hard until the end and playing well.”
It was a good job Fowler had his shooting boots on because his team-mates did not, even if one goal always looked as though it would be enough against a Bolton team who, after a bright start when they could have taken the lead, conceded a cheap goal on the brink of half-time and wilted in the second period.
Sam Allardyce had expressed concern last week about how the relegation battle was impinging on the health of his friend Steve Bruce, the Birmingham City manager, but his players must be sending his own blood pressure rocketing at the moment. This was Bolton's fourth successive defeat in the Premiership and, with Chelsea to play next, their chances of qualifying for the Uefa Cup for the second season running have slimmed.
It might have been different had Stelios Giannakopoulos not been thwarted by José Manuel Reina in the eighth minute when, latching on to Kevin Davies's deflected pass, the Greece winger drew a fine one-handed save from the Liverpool goalkeeper.
Harry Kewell was doing his best to spark some life into Liverpool, but it was not until Fowler's goal in the second minute of stoppage time that the hosts emerged from their stupor. Allardyce had just left the directors' box and was about to head to the dressing-room when Jamie Carragher floated a hopeful ball to Fowler.
The forward's flick on was collected by Peter Crouch, who held off Nicky Hunt long enough to tee up Fowler to steer the ball into the bottom corner for his second goal in as many games and third since returning to the club. It was a typical poacher's finish, even if Allardyce claimed, bizarrely, that it was a “mis-hit”.
“We paid the price again for creating good opportunities and not converting them and then an even bigger price for allowing a situation to develop that should have been snuffed out,” the Bolton manager said. “That's what Robbie Fowler is all about. He mis-hit it, but even when he does that he stills scores goals. If he keeps scoring goals for Liverpool, they will be keeping him.”
With Cissé having endured a dismal first half, during which he provided no semblance of a threat down the right and proceeded to demonstrate only how not to control the ball, the France forward was withdrawn in favour of Luis García. The switch reaped dividends, even if a second goal was not forthcoming. Xabi Alonso rattled a post after letting rip with a thunderous left-footed shot and Crouch might have scored with a header from a cross by Kewell.
“We need to maybe win one more game and that will be enough (to finish third),” Benítez said. Fowler will hope that he has already done enough.