Robbie Fowler marked his first senior Liverpool appearance with a goal in a 3–1 win at Fulham on 22 September 1993. The 18-year-old started alongside Ian Rush at Craven Cottage and helped Liverpool establish a two-goal lead before scoring the late third himself.
This was the first leg of a League Cup second-round tie. Graeme Souness gave Fowler his opportunity after Liverpool’s defeat at Everton, bringing a player from the club’s youth ranks into an attack that also included Rush and Nigel Clough.
Fowler was involved in both first-half goals. His cross helped produce the opener for Rush, who finished after Don Hutchison’s contribution and goalkeeper Jim Stannard’s failure to gather the ball. Later, Fowler supplied Clough, whose header went in with a touch from Fulham defender Martin Pike.
Liverpool led 2–0 at half-time, but Fulham made the second half less comfortable. Substitute Sean Farrell reduced the deficit after running on to Martin Ferney’s long pass and lifting the ball over Bruce Grobbelaar. Farrell subsequently headed over as the home side pursued an equaliser.
Fowler had missed a chance late in the game before making the result secure in the 83rd minute. Hutchison sent the ball across from the right and Fowler met it at the far post, driving his finish past Stannard. Liverpool’s two-goal advantage was restored.
The debut is distinct from the five-goal performance against the same opponents that followed. At Craven Cottage, Fowler scored once and Liverpool still had a return leg to play. On 5 October, he scored all five goals in a 5–0 win at Anfield, completing a tie in which he had contributed six of Liverpool’s eight goals.
The two matches offered different measures of his arrival: a scoring debut away from home, then an extraordinary individual total in the return. The first senior goal, though, belonged to this September evening at Fulham, when his late finish ended the home side’s attempt to recover a two-goal deficit.