page_title: Dirk Kuyt
section_title: 2011–12 season
hierarchical_section_title: Dirk Kuyt / Club career / Liverpool / 2011–12 season
caption_attribution_description: Liverpool vs Bolton 27/08/2011
context_page_description: Dirk Kuijt is a Dutch former professional footballer. Originally starting out as a striker, he played much of his career as a winger.
  Kuyt began his professional career with Utrecht in 1998 and quickly became part of its first team. He spent five years at the club, and in his final season he won his first senior honour, the KNVB Cup, and was chosen as the season's Dutch Golden Shoe Winner. Following this, he left Utrecht in a €1 million transfer to Feyenoord. He became the club captain in 2005 and was a prolific goalscorer at the Rotterdam club; he was the club's top scorer for three consecutive seasons, the top goalscorer in the 2004–05 Eredivisie season, and the 2005–06 Dutch Footballer of the Year. Kuyt missed only five games over seven seasons from 1999 until 2006 and appeared in 179 consecutive matches between 2001–06, striking up a fruitful partnership with fellow Feyenoord teammate Salomon Kalou.
  He left Feyenoord after three years, having scored 71 league goals in 101 appearances, and joined Premier League side Liverpool for £10 million. He made his Premier League debut late in 2006 and became part of the first team squad.
context_section_description: On 21 September 2011, Kuyt scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion in the 83rd minute in the third round of the League Cup. He did not score for the rest of 2011, missing a chance to get his 50th league goal for the club on 1 October 2011 with a saved penalty against Everton, a game Liverpool went on to win 2–0. On 8 October, Kuyt was announced as having taken up an advisory role with his first club in football, Quick Boys. Kuyt's next goal was a crucial 88th-minute winner in a 2–1 victory against Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 28 January 2012. He went on to score his 50th league goal for Liverpool the following week in a 3–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, becoming only the fifth player to score 50 or more goals for Liverpool in the Premier League.
  After coming on as a substitute, Kuyt scored Liverpool's second goal in the 2012 League Cup final against Cardiff City on 26 February; the game finished 2–2 after extra-time, with Liverpool winning after a penalty shoot-out, Kuyt converting his kick.
caption: Kuyt playing for Liverpool F.C. against Bolton in 2011
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