Peter Crouch might not be held in the same regard as other Liverpool strikers of the past, but he proved his quality against Arsenal on this day 19 years ago.
The 6’7″ centre-forward spent three years at Liverpool, winning the FA Cup, making the Champions League final and leading the team in scoring in 2006/07. But this clash with the Gunners was the highlight of his spell.
A game at Anfield in which Crouch completely took over. He scored a perfect hat-trick in Liverpool’s 4-1 win, becoming just the third Red to do so in the Premier League.
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Peter Crouch’s historic perfect hat-trick vs Arsenal
Crouch put on as complete a centre-forward display as you could ask for on that day. It was a high-stakes fixture with real table implications, but only one team showed up on the day.
His first was the simplest of the three, a right-footed poke after getting on the end of a low-driven cross.
The second was vintage Crouch, getting his head on a cross only he could have reached and guiding the whipped cross into the top corner. He rounded off the perfect hat-trick with the pick of the bunch — the ball fell at his feet in the penalty area, where he controlled it, dragged it onto his left and rifled it past Jens Lehmann.
Goals from Daniel Agger and Arsenal’s William Gallas rounded out the scoring.
The perfect hat-trick is a feat to be respected. Only two other Liverpool players have done it in the Premier League — Emile Heskey and Robbie Fowler three times. He might not be considered one of Liverpool’s greatest players, but Crouch was no slouch.
It was a jaw-dropping display from the former England international, and one that proved pivotal for Liverpool later in the season.
Crouch’s perfect hat-trick beat Arsenal, twice
It wasn’t just 90 minutes of magic with no further-reaching consequences. On the final day of the season, it proved decisive.
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Neither Liverpool nor Arsenal were involved in a title race that season. Man United won the 2006/07 title by six points, with Chelsea in second place.
But the Reds finished third, and they wouldn’t have done if not for those three goals from Crouch in March.
Liverpool were level on points with fourth-placed Arsenal, with a goal difference advantage of two. Take out this history-making display, and we would have finished behind the North London side that season.
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