penalty miss for Liverpool. He was substituted shortly afterwards as Liverpool lost 1–0. The following season was tough and eventful for Aldridge. Rush failed to settle in Italy and Liverpool paid £2.8 million to bring him back to Anfield just before the season kicked off. Kenny Dalglish played Aldridge and Rush together. It was Aldridge who enjoyed the better form during the season, with Rush being hindered by injuries. In the Charity Shield match against Wimbledon at Wembley, Aldridge started the match and scoring both Liverpool goals in a 2–1 win. Aldridge maintained his scoring streak, often playing alongside both Rush and Beardsley in attack, while Rush missed a number of games or started games on the bench due to injuries. In the first league game of the season a week later, Aldridge scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win at Charlton Athletic. He scored another league hat-trick on 14 March, in the 5–0 home win over Luton Town, which took his league tally for the season to fifteen goals. He reached the twenty-goal mark on 13 May in a 2–1 win at Wimbledon, and finished the season as the club's top scorer with 22 goals in the league, eight in the FA Cup, two in the League Cup, and two in the Charity Shield, amounting to 34 in all competitions. In the 1989 FA Cup final at Wembley, against Merseyside rivals Everton, Aldridge made up for his penalty failure a year earlier by scoring after four minutes with his first touch of the ball. Substitute Ian Rish, who replaced Aldridge, scored twice in extra time to earn Liverpool a 3–2 victory. Aldridge scored 21 league goals that season, and 31 in all competitions, putting him among the highest scorers in the first division that season. The League and FA Cup "double", achieved by Liverpool in 1986 but denied to them by Wimbledon in 1988, was again possible, with a decider against Arsenal to come at Anfield. Aldridge played in a game which would guarantee Liverpool the title as long as Arsenal failed to win by two clear goals. 1–0 down in injury time, Liverpool conceded another goal to Michael Thomas with virtually the last kick of the season, thus losing the League title. Aldridge played 104 times for Liverpool, scoring 63 goals, 50 of them in the league. Real Sociedad The following 1989–90 season, Kenny Dalglish reverted to a