4. Michael Owen – Liverpool v Arsenal 2001
A young Michael Owen was electrifying. By the 2001 FA Cup final some of his early hamstring problems had already begun, but this was a 21-year-old on his way to winning the Ballon d’Or.
Even then, the diminutive forward looked like a schoolkid thrust into an adult’s game and forced to wear a shirt several sizes too big.
Liverpool trailed Arsenal 1-0 in the Cardiff sunshine when Owen levelled with a smartly taken half-volley in the 83rd minute. His winner five minutes later, though, was straight out of the Chester-born striker’s playbook.
With Liverpool under pressure, Patrik Berger looped a clearance into the channel. Owen gave Lee Dixon a head start but scorched across the turf to get there before him.
His first touch took the ball away from the covering Tony Adams, his second fired a left-footed shot a fraction inside David Seaman’s far post.
“If I could have one day back, I would rewind to that day,” Owen later said.
