Bolton: Branagan, Frandsen (Carr 77), Blake, Thompson,
Pollock, Bergsson, Phillips, Fish, Beardsley (Gunnlaugsson 59),
Whitlow, Holdsworth.
Subs Not Used: Johansen, Aljofree, Ward.
Booked: Phillips, Thompson.
Goals: Blake 84.
Liverpool: James, Jones, Kvarme, McManaman, Leonhardsen, Fowler,
Redknapp, Ince, Owen (Riedle 75), Bjornebye, Matteo.
Subs Not Used: McAteer, Nielson, Harkness, Berger.
Sent Off: Fowler (75).
Booked: Bjornebye, Fowler, Ince.
Goals: Fowler 1.
Att: 25,000
Ref: D J Gallagher (Banbury).
[PA-report] [Telegraph-report] [Times-report] [Guardian-report]
Robbie Fowler scored a 49-second goal and was sent off with 13 minutes to go of this dramatic battle. His stunning early strike -- his seventh goal in nine matches -- was overshadowed by a wild rush of blood which ended with a red card after he had punched Bolton midfield man Per Frandsen. That moment of madness cost Liverpool dearly. Seven minutes later Bolton made their numerical superiority tell when they equalised through a flying Nathan Blake header.
Throughout, Liverpool had been clearly upset by the flying feet and sheer determination of Colin Todd's team. They had whinged at referee Dermot Gallagher, complained about the treatment being dished out, and managed to lose their composure and the plot. Even at the end, skipper Paul Ince -- booked himself with four minutes to go for a reckless tackle -- was complaining to Gallagher and even after assistant manager Doug Livermore pulled Liverpool's captain away from the official, Ince angrily shook himself free to have another verbal go. Liverpool had been simmering for a long time, and you could see this nightmare closing in on them.
The flashpoint came when Fowler was clearly, finally fed-up with being held back and lashed out. The little Dane collapsed on the floor, and Ince rushed up to point accusingly at him claiming he was over-reacting. Fowler looked distraught, and also made comments to the grounded Bolton player. But the Banbury official had little option but to brandish the red card, and now Fowler is going to miss three key games-one of which could well be the crucial clash with Arsenal.
Confronted with a side already fighting for their Premiership lives, Liverpool just didn't do themselves justice. They wanted to cruise and play their brand of short passing football, while Bolton wanted to battle. Liverpool didn't like the sometimes wild tackling they were subjected to,but frankly they can hardly have expected a quiet day at the office! The plan was clearly to sit back, soak up the pressure and hit Bolton on the break...and that's a dangerous game with so little margin for error.
Bolton were without their suspended trio of Gerry Taggart, Scott Sellars and Andy Todd, which allowed Mark Whitlow and Jamie Pollock to return to the side. Liverpool fielded the team that beat Derby last weekend. Bolton have been involved in a stream of red card incidents this season. They have had Taggart, Todd and Nathan Blake dismissed themselves, while Stan Collymore, Gary Pallister and now Fowler have been sent off while playing against Todd's tough guys.
It had all started so well for Liverpool. Their first attack produced a fine goal. Steve McManaman set off down the right,and found Oyvind Leonhardsen who had made an intelligent run across the box. The ball was laid back for Fowler, who struck a sweet right foot shot into the far bottom corner.
Bolton stormed back and Frandsen, Blake and Dean Holdsworth could all have equalised. Liverpool were intent on sitting back, soaking up pressure, but that just gave the initiative to Bolton, who steamed forward. Bolton 'keeper Keith Branagan made a fine save when Michael Owen was put clear, but the half finished with the nagging doubts about Liverpool's application coming to the surface.
Branagan made another great save from Owen, and then saved Bolton from going two behind when Fowler was put clear through by McManaman. The striker cruised into the box, tried to walk the ball round the 'keeper, and had the chance snatched from his toes. It was a crucial moment, because a goal then would have killed Bolton off.
Instead the battle continued to rage, Liverpool got more and more upset with the tackling, and then Fowler snapped. It was a silly thing to do, letting his team down, and they paid dearly when Blake grabbed the equaliser by heading home Jimmy Phillips' cross. The Welshman almost got the equaliser with a snap shot with nine minutes left, James-who had a fine game-saving brilliantly. But the goal finally arrived, and Liverpool were left to rue Fowler's made moment.
Bolton midfielder Per Frandsen tonight backed referee Dermot Gallagher for his controversial late dismissal of Robbie Fowler which rules the Liverpool striker out of their crunch match with Arsenal in a month. Danish star Frandsen was floored by Fowler's elbow in a dramatic 75th-minute incident in the 1-1 draw at the Reebok Stadium to give Gallagher no option but to reach for the red card. The dismissal enabled Bolton, trailing to Fowler's opener inside the first 50 seconds, to take advantage of 10-man Liverpool and Nathan Blake headed the equaliser with six minutes remaining. It was a disastrous end for Liverpool, who will also miss captain Paul Ince for the November 30 clash with the Gunners after he received a late booking -- his fifth of the season -- for a late challenge on Gudni Bergsson.
But Frantzen said: "I don't think the referee had any option because he elbowed me and I was very fortunate he caught me on back of the head and not the front. "I don't know what happened after that because I went down. He had run past me and he pushed me and I pushed him back and the next thing I knew I was being elbowed -- you can't do that in a football match. "I was aware there were complaints to the referee but we were only tackling -- we weren't doing anything dirty, we were just hard. "We showed we did not want to give up and we are becoming a team that is hard to beat."
Liverpool manager Roy Evans, who must now pick his side up for the UEFA Cup return clash with Strasbourg at Anfield on Tuesday, rightly condemned Fowler's action but claimed referee Gallagher was inconsistent. "There is no defence for what Robbie did," conceded Evans. "If you raise your elbow or your hands then you get sent off, it's as simple as that. "But the guy had a swipe at Robbie and that is the disappointing part. If the referee had got a better grip in the first 15 minutes when all sorts was going on off the ball the it might have saved all the aggro later on. "Robbie has apologised. He realises that it does not help him missing games and it lets the team down -- you rarely win matches with 10 men. "If we decide to fine him it will be a disciplinary matter and we will look at the incident, decide if he was out of order and then we may take some disciplinary action."
But Evans was more concerned with Ince's caution, which takes the Liverpool skipper past the disciplinary points barrier and results in an automatic three-match ban alongside Fowler. "Jamie Pollock has gone around all day and got away with murder and Ince makes one tackle and goes into the book -- there is a lot of inconsistency," added Evans.
Bolton counterpart Colin Todd, whose side have not won a home league fixture against Liverpool since 1963, was understandably delighted at the result and claimed: "We have not won a game today but in terms of determination and work-rate we were excellent. "They had a lot of possession but we have restricted them to shots from outside the area and our keeper Keith Branagan was excellent. "We have not conceded a lot of goals and that is important because you always have a chance of getting back into the game."
Asked about Fowler's dismissal, Todd said: "That happens quite a lot at the Reebok Stadium -- we've had two players sent off here. "What I always say to my players is that if a player raises his hands then they have to go. Referee's have a difficult job and they are under the microscope all the time."
Fowler off as Bolton bite back
By Derick Allsop
Bolton (0) 1 Liverpool (1) 1
IT had all seemed so straight-forward, but by the end a desperate Liverpool were reduced to 10 men by the dismissal of their goalscorer, Robbie Fowler, and one point by Nathan Blake's late equaliser. Fowler was sent off 14 minutes from time after a fracas with Per Frandsen left the Bolton player prostrate.
Life among the Premiership aristocracy is onerous enough without starting matches a goal down, but that was effectively the position from which Bolton confronted Liverpool. Such was the hospitality of the home side Liverpool were able to pick their way in, almost unopposed, and steal a goal in just 48 seconds, Fowler again demonstrating the art of the sneak thief. That skill comes less naturally to Steve McManaman and for that Bolton were thankful, otherwise they might have been three goals adrift and facing a hopeless cause by half-time.
Liverpool were unable to sustain the fluency and venom that will convince their followers they are champions in the making, but overall they had too much movement and too many ideas for Colin Todd's team. Had Dean Holdsworth reacted more swiftly and assuredly to an early chance Bolton's confidence may have been raised and Liverpool stretched.
Liverpool, having buoyed their championship campaign with a 4-0 victory against Derby least week, opted, unsurprisingly, for the same team. Patrik Berger and Karlheinz Riedle, recovered from injury, were among the substitutes.
Bolton's choice was more limited. Scott Sellars, Gerry Taggart, and Andy Todd were all suspended. Jimmy Phillips was drafted into the defence and Jamie Pollock, a disgruntled French figure of late, was restored to more familiar territory in midfield.
Holdsworth's winning goal against Chelsea last week revived optimism and the club's survival at this level could hinge on the productivity of his partnership with Nathan Blake. It would aid their cause also if they could avoid conceding first-minute goals. Their defence seemed hypnotised by Liverpool's instant fluidity, McManaman fed Oyvind Leonhardsen, who cut the ball back to Fowler. The striker dragged his shot across Keith Branagan and inside the far post.
Blake lifted the spirits of the natives with a robust surge and Mike Whitlow blazed just wide. Holdsworth materialised in space yet was tracked down by Dominic Matteo and Frandsen drove his free kick beyond David James's left-hand post.
McManaman over-elaborated and wasted the slight manoeuvre contrived by Fowler and Michael Owen. Then Owen took on Mark Fish only to have the ball hooked away from his twinkling feet. Liverpool's persistence forced another opportunity for McManaman, hovering on the edge of Bolton's penalty area, but his attempt to curl the ball out of Branagan's reach carried insufficient weight. Fowler was less subtle from Leonhardsen's pass and Branagan had to lunge smartly to block.
The Fowler-Owen combination unlocked Bolton's defence again in the 57th minute and Branagan had to dart from his line to smother Owen's shot. Fowler tried to chip the goalkeeper from distance a minute later and was just too high. Fowler should have settled the issue after 63 minutes. He and Owen split to open Bolton once more and give McManaman two possibilities. He went for Fowler, who ran at Branagan unchallenged, but wasted too much time to round him and had the ball snatched away.
That sloppiness encouraged Bolton to believe all was not lost; yet too often they squandered possession with a careless final ball. They were more optimistic still in the 76th minute when Fowler was shown the red card after a clash with Frandsen. Six minutes from the end Bolton equalised, Blake climbing high to head in from Phillips' centre.
Fowler presses the self-destruct button
Ian Chadband
Bolton Wanderers 1 Liverpool 1
ROBBIE FOWLER gave his one-man rendition of the good, the bad and the ugly, offering Liverpool the passport to victory with a delightful first-minute goal, missing the simplest chance to seal it and then allowing Bolton Wanderers back into a game that looked beyond them with a pathetic piece of indiscipline.
It is difficult to overstate the stupidity of the 75th-minute incident that saw Fowler sent off, immediately changing the whole complexion of the match. The home side, spirited but uninspired, had been chasing the game vainly ever since Fowler had superbly turned and tucked away a strike after just 49 seconds, and were running out of ideas.
Indeed, Fowler should have sewn it up midway through the second half when, freed one-on-one with Keith Branagan, he tried to waltz past the keeper but was thwarted by an outstretched hand.
Then all hell broke loose. Off the ball, Fowler and Per Frandsen were jostling in midfield; innocuous stuff, really. Yet Fowler, overreacting absurdly, elbowed the Dane in the face, flooring him right under the nose of Dermot Gallagher, the referee. The red card was flourished, though it did not stop Fowler making things worse by marching on the prostrate Frandsen and wagging a finger threateningly in his face before finally being shepherded off.
It gave Bolton hope where there had been none. Nathan Blake, until then workmanlike but largely ineffective, found second wind, unloading a fierce left-foot drive that David James beat out at full stretch, and, with six minutes left, soaring to head home Jimmy Phillips's hoofed through-ball. Just what Roy Evans, the Liverpool manager already under the cosh, did not need. He tried to offer some explanation of Fowler's behaviour, suggesting Frandsen had had "a kick and a swing" at the striker in the incident and claiming Gallagher should have got more control over proceedings in the first 15 minutes, when wild Bolton tackles were the order of the day as they desperately tried to regain composure after Fowler's goal.
Yet it was niggly stuff, not particularly malicious, and Fowler's reaction will keep him out of the Arsenal game at the end of the month, which Paul Ince will also miss after picking up his fifth booking.
Ultimately, Evans had to acknowledge: "There's no defence. Robbie's apologised; he knows it lets the team down and you don't win many games with 10 men."
Indeed. With 11, Liverpool, though rarely firing on all cylinders, exerted a fair degree of control once they overcame a lackadaisical patch midway through the first half, when Frandsen curled a free kick just wide, and only a beautifully timed last-ditch intervention by Dominic Matteo prevented Dean Holdsworth from equalising.
Mark Fish, the South African defender who looks set to become a cult figure at Bolton with his adventurous safaris up field, went missing for Fowler's goal but later made one exquisite sliding tackle to keep out Michael Owen.
The splendid Branagan also thwarted the busy teenager from a narrow angle, while Fowler produced one excellent chip that sailed just over. How sad that when he can produce brilliance like that, he can sometimes deliver stupidity in equal measure.
Bolton Wanderers: Branagan, Phillips, Bergsson, Fish, Whitlow, Beardsley (Gunnlaugsson 59min), Pollock, Thompson, Frandsen (Carr 77min), Blake, Holdsworth.
Liverpool: James, Jones, Kvarme, Matteo, Bjornebye, Redknapp, Ince, Leonhardsen, McManaman, Fowler, Owen (Riedle 75min).
Scorers: Bolton Wanderers: Blake 84.
Liverpool: Fowler 1.
Referee: D Gallagher (Banbury).
Bolton Wanderers 1 - 1 Liverpool
Fowler strike dents title hopes
By Mark Redding in the Guardian
Saturday November 1, 1997
Just what Liverpool needed, two points dropped and Robbie Fowler sent off as they attempt to marshal their forces for an epic battle with Strasbourg. This draw leaves the Merseysiders three wins adrift of the leaders Manchester United and their dream of a first title since 1990 drifting away into a hazy red mist.
Tomorrow night they must attempt to overcome the 3-0 deficit from the first leg of their Uefa Cup tie with the French, and if they fail to do that probably their only hope of meaningful silverware this season will be the FA Cup which they last won in 1992. Clearly all is not well in the house that Shankly built.
Fowler, who has scored six goals in eight league appearances since recovering from an ankle injury, will now miss the games against Barnsley, Arsenal and United after being dismissed for violent conduct.
The £4.2 million Paul Ince will join him, after collecting his fifth booking of the season for a foul on Mike Whitlow five minutes from time. Further trouble was only narrowly avoided when the fuming captain was hauled away from the referee by a trackside official on the final whistle.
Dermot Gallagher was criticised by the Liverpool manager Roy Evans but the referee - who is blessed with more common sense than the average Premiership official - had a difficult job treading a fine line between punishing those transgressors stirred up by Bolton Wanderers' overly rugged approach and keeping an exciting game flowing, which he did very well.
Liverpool had only themselves to blame. They were 1-0 up and cruising through Fowler's opportunist shot after only 50 seconds when the striker reacted to some ankle tapping by lashing out at Per Frandsen just yards from the referee. Almost before the flaxen-haired Dane had crumpled to the floor, Gallagher had whipped out his red card. "It was a great hit," admitted the groggy midfielder after he had been helped from the pitch. "It got me just behind the ear and I went down. I don't know why he did it."
"It was an open and shut case," said Gallagher. "I have to say he held his arm up straight away and said, 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it,' and I admire him for that." It was the third sending-off of the striker's career and it followed a similar incident last April in the 1-1 draw at Everton. "Fowler has apologised but it doesn't help with him missing the rest of the game and it also let the team down," said Evans. "You don't win games with 10 men." And so it proved.
The sending-off turned out to be doubly significant when Frandsen's 75th-minute replacement - Franz Carr, making his debut as he stopped off on his way back from Reggiana in Serie B - engineered an opening on the right touchline in the 84th minute. Jimmy Phillips fired in the cross and Nathan Blake rose to deftly head the equaliser.