da spicy bet： After 25 years since its rebranding and 9,746 games later, the Premier League has still seen seven unique scorelines throughout its entire history. Football FanCast takes a look at each one…
Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town (4 March 1995)
da betsul： Manchester United set the record Premier League margin of victory in only the third season and it still remains today. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side ran out record 9-0 winners over lowly Ipswich Town in March 1996. Needless to say, the Tractor Boys were relegated that season. George Burley’s side finished bottom, some 21 points adrift of safety.
The Red Devils led 3-0 at half-time in a game that saw Andrew Cole become the first player to score five goals in a single Premier League game. The then-record signing from Newcastle United had only scored two goals in his first six matches as a Red Devil but this proved to be the game that would kick start his career at Old Trafford.
Roy Keane had opened the scoring whilst Mark Hughes bagged a brace and Paul Ince also got himself on the scoresheet.
Portsmouth 7-4 Reading (29 September 2007)
The highest-scoring Premier League game in history was only 2-1 at half-time. Yes, you heard me right. A Benjani brace had given Portsmouth a 2-0 lead before Stephen Hunt pulled one back for visitors Reading on the stroke of half-time. There was then a flurry of goals after the break, with Dave Kitson equalising before Hermann Hreiðarsson made it 3-2 to the hosts.
It wasn’t until the 70th minute, when Benjani completed his hat-trick, that the game saw its sixth goal. Niko Kranjčar seemed to put the game away five minutes later when he gave Pompey a 5-2 lead. Shane Long quickly pulled one back before Ívar Ingimarsson’s own goal moments later made it 6-3. Sulley Muntari converted a stoppage time penalty to push the score to 7-3 before a Sol Campbell own goal in the 94th minute saw a Premier League game have 11 goals for the first, and to date, only time.
Tottenham Hotspur 6-4 Reading (29 December 2007)
Two months to the day of being involved in a record-breaking Premier League game, Steve Coppell’s Reading were involved in another thriller. This time it was only 1-1 at half-time.
A Dimitar Berbatov tap-in on seven minutes had given the hosts the lead before Kalifa Cissé equalised shortly after. It wasn’t until the second half when the goal glut truly started. Ívar Ingimarsson gave the visitors the lead on 53 minutes before Berbatov equalised for Spurs 10 minutes later. Dave Kitson restored the visitors’ lead again, but Tottenham’s Bulgarian star then completed his hat-trick on 73 minutes. minute later and Kitson gave Reading their third lead of the second half. Steed Malbranque equalised for the North Londoners on 76 minutes, while Jermain Defoe gave them the lead three minutes later. Berbatov’s fourth goal in the 83rd minute ended the scoring and secured Juande Ramos’ side three points.
Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)
Tottenham were involved in another fascinating game and unique scoreline, this time in November 2009. Peter Crouch had given Tottenham a 1-0 half-time lead in what was set to be a run of the mill win for the hosts on a Sunday afternoon.
However, Wigan Athletic would fall apart in the second half Jermain Defoe scored a quick brace between 50-54 minutes and then Defoe then completed a quick hat-trick on 58 minutes, before Aaron Lennon got in on the act shortly after. Defoe netted his fourth four minutes later and then became only the second player to score five goals in a single Premier League game on 87 minutes. David Bentley scored seconds later and Niko Kranjčar’s goal in the 94th minute meant Tottenham became only the second club in Premier League history to score nine goals in one game. Chris Kirkland was the unfortunate goalkeeper.
Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal (28 August 2011)
One result that contributed to the ‘Wenger Out’ campaigns dates back to early in the 2011-12 Premier League season, which saw Manchester United annihilate a depleted Arsenal side 8-2 at Old Trafford.
Wojciech Szczęsny was in goal for the Gunners with a defence that consisted of Carl Jenkinson, Johan Djourou, Laurent Koscielny and Armand Traoré. Danny Welbeck opened the scoring for United on 22 minutes before Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney made it 3-0. Theo Walcott pulled one back in first half stoppage time.
Rooney, Nani and Ji-Sung Park each scored within the space of seven minutes to give United an emphatic 7-1 lead, before Robin van Persie’s goal a few minutes later meant that Arsenal had scored two goals at Old Trafford for the first time (the only other time it has happened since was their 3-2 loss in February 2016). A Wayne Rooney penalty and an Ashley Young strike in stoppage time completed the humiliation.
Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle United (29 December 2012)
A unique scoreline that reflects positively on Arsenal was their 7-3 thrashing of Newcastle just after Christmas. This saw another low-scoring first-half with Theo Walcott and Demba Ba each score as the two teams went in 1-1 at the break.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would restore Arsenal’s lead five minutes into the second half before Sylvain Marveaux equalised just before the hour. Lukas Podolski then gave Arsenal their third lead on 64 minutes before Demba Ba equalised five minutes later. The final 20 minutes would be all Arsenal – Theo Walcott making it 4-3 before a quick brace from Olivier Giroud in the final 10 minutes, followed up by Walcott completing his hat-trick in stoppage time.
West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United (19 May 2013)
Sir Alex Ferguson’s final game was a memorable one at the Hawthorns in May 2013. Manchester United had already sewn up the Premier League title and the Red Devils appeared to be on their way to a comfortable victory with goals from Shinji Kagawa, Jonas Olsson (own goal) and Alexander Büttner making it 3-0 after half hour. James Morrison pulled one back for the Baggies before half-time. Loanee Romelu Lukaku was then introduced at the break and quickly made it 2-3, before Robin van Persie restored United’s two-goal lead on 53 minutes. Javier Hernández’s strike 10 minutes later seemed to put the game out of sight before Lukaku and Youssouf Mulumbu scored within a minute of each other in the 81st minute. Lukaku completed his hat-trick in the dying embers of the game to rescue a dramatic 5-5.
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