Sport
The 5 best comebacks in Premier League history
On June 17th 2020 the Premier League finally returned after what felt like an eternity. With COVID-19 still posing a threat, football was something of a comeback in itself. With that in mind, we decided to take a look at the 5 best comebacks in Premier League history.
5 best comebacks in Premier League history
5. Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 Leicester City (2003)
On October 25, 2003, strugglers Leicester City found themselves bottom of the league as they visited Molineux.
The Foxes were coming off four-straight defeats in the league and came out looking like they needed to prove a point. A brace from Les Ferdinand in the first fifteen minutes put the visitors 0-2 up before Riccardo Scimeca added a third in the 34th minute. As the half-time whistle blew, they had all but buried fellow strugglers Wolves with a three-goal blitz. Finally, it looked as though Leicester were turning things around in the league.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be as Wolves came roaring back in astonishing fashion. Colin Cameron contributed a brace of his own within 15 minutes of the restart, with one of the goals coming from the penalty spot. Alex Rae then levelled things up in the 67th minute before Henri Camara scored the winner in the 85th minute, completing one of the best comebacks in premier league history.
4. Chelsea F.C. 3 – 3 Manchester United F.C. (2012)
A hallmark of Sir Alex Ferguson’s years at Manchester United was the Red Devils’ ability to get a result from matches that seemed out of reach. However, at three goals down away at Stamford bridge with just over half an hour to play, things looked pretty dire for United.
In classic Fergie fashion though, his side once again rose to the occasion. A pair of penalties for Wayne Rooney started the fight back for the visitors before Javier Hernandez earned his side a point with an 84th minute goal. The fact that this was accomplished away at Stamford Bridge makes this Premier League comeback all the more impressive.
3. Manchester City F.C. 2-3 Fulham F.C. (2008)
Some comebacks become instant classics purely because of the significance of the result. Fulham’s encounter against Manchester City at the Eastlands in 2008 is a perfect example.
Roy Hodgson’s men were hanging on by a thread in the Premier League with three matches left, which made this clash against City a crucial one. By the intermission however, Fulham’s hopes of survival were diminishing as they found themselves two goals down away from home and other results in the league not going in their favour.
With the threat of relegation looming, Roy Hodgson went to work at halftime and the Cottagers came out for the second half a different team. A Danny Murphy strike was sandwiched between a Diomansy Kamara brace which included a stoppage time winner to complete their comeback. The match was seen as a turning point for Fulham who won their remaining two games and managed to remain in the Premier League. Two years later, they were playing the in the Europa League final.
2. Newcastle F.C. 4-4 Arsenal F.C. (2011)
In terms of margin of goals that needed overcoming, this fixture definitely ranks as one of the best comebacks in the English Premier League’s history. Since the unbeaten season of the Invincibles, The Gunners have looked anything but as a fateful day in 2011 showed.
St. James’s Park was a poetic setting for the resurrection like performance that Newcastle put in that day. After just 26 minutes of play, The Magpies found themselves four goals down to the second placed Gunners. It was threatening to be an embarrassment for Newcastle and many fans left before the half-time whistle blew.
Evidently, just like their league position at the time, Arsenal were flattering to deceive. Newcastle came storming back with two penalties contributed by Joey Barton. Leon Best also struck in 75th minute before Cheick Tiote scored the equalizer with three minutes remaining. No Premier League team had ever come back from four goals down to secure a point before, cementing this fixture’s place among the Premier League’s greatest comebacks.
1. Manchester City F.C. 3-2 Queens Park Rangers F.C. (2012)
As a neutral, it’s hard to deny this fixture’s recognition as the best comeback in the history of the premier league. With the title race going into the final day of the Premier League, the Sky Blues needed to match the result of Manchester United in order to win the Premier League title instead of their bitter rivals.
After 66 minutes City were losing 2-1 to 10-man QPR. With United winning their match a sense of panic could be felt around the stadium. United seemed destined to snatch the title, with fans already feeling jubilant in the stands as word that QPR were still holding City to the same score line after 89 minutes. As things stood, United would have been crowned champions.
However, Edin Dzeko pulled City level in stoppage time to give City a glimmer of hope before Sergio Aguero snatched a last gasp winner to break United hearts. The Etihad errupted as Martin Tyler gave us one of the most iconic moments of commentary in Premier League history by screaming: “Aguerrrrooooooooo. I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again.”
That and the priceless look on Sir Alex’s face made the moment all the sweeter for City fans.
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