Classic Premiership Matches 21-40

In the past 18 seasons, football fans across the globe have been treated to some cracking Premiership matches.  On the eve of the 19th season having begun yesterday, here is a look-back at some classics down the years.

21.           Norwich City                          4-5           Southampton                          Saturday 9^th April 1994

This was a nine-goal thriller at Carrow Road, as Norwich squandered a 3-1 lead to lose the game.  The Saint messiah, Matt Le Tissier scored another hat-trick and a powerful header from centre back, Ken Monkou earned a priceless victory for the Saints, enough to end up seeing the South Coast outfit stay up.

22.           Arsenal                                    2-2           Manchester United                  Wednesday 16^th April 2003

Down the years, Arsenal and Manchester United have served up some controversial and spicy matches, none more so than this championship crunch at Highbury.  The Red Devils made the best start, with top scorer Ruud Van Nistlerooy bursting through to give his side the lead.  A quickfire double from Thierry Henry in the opening exchanges changed the outcome of the game, before a free header by Ryan Giggs made things all square again.  Sol Campbell was red-carded in a bitter and sour end to a heavily-fought game.

23.           Liverpool                                                6-2           Tottenham Hotspur                                Saturday 8^th May 1993

With nothing to fight for either side, the shackles were released in this last match of the campaign.  Both had underachieved and looked set for new managers in the forthcoming season.  There were 2 goals apiece for Liverpool legends, John Barnes and Ian Rush.

24.           Nottingham Forest                 1-8           Manchester United                  Saturday 6^th February 1999

For Manchester United, this was a stroll in the park during their treble winning season.  The deadly combination of Andy Cole & Dwight Yorke struck again with two goals apiece, either side of a tidy Alan Rodgers effort for woeful Forest.  Substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came off the bench to round things off, hitting an incredible 4 goals in 18 minutes.  The Norwegian had written himself into the Premiership record books.

25.           Arsenal                                    4-2           Liverpool                                                Friday 9^th April 2004

Having just been dumped out of the FA Cup and Champions League within four days, the Untouchables from Highbury were under pressure and it continued after the first half against a distant Liverpool side.  Sami Hyypia and Michael Owen both scored in the first half to give Gerard Houiller’s outfit the advantage.  Trailing 2-1 at the interlude, it was a major test of Wenger’s side, but the character building challenge was passed with flying colours by Thierry Henry, who scored a memorable hat-trick, including another special solo effort.  The championship and the unbeaten record were back in total command.

 

26.           West Ham United                   1-1           Manchester United                  Sunday 14^th May 1995

Manchester United visited their bogey side, West Ham needing a win to stand any chance of making it three consecutive Premier League titles.  Behind to an early Michael Hughes volley, United piled the pressure on in the second half and an unmarked header by Brian McClair brought United level.  Chance after chance came, but wasteful finishing from Andy Cole and an outstanding goalkeeping display by Ludek Mikolosko thwarted Alex Ferguson’s side of another championship.

27.           Southampton                          3-2           Arsenal                                    Saturday 19^th May 2001

It was a final farewell to The Dell, one of the oldest grounds in the English game and what a finale.  It was fitting, that the last word should come from the Southampton legend, Matt Le Tissier.  He hit a thunderous half-volley past David Seaman deep in stoppage time to send the home supporters into raptures.  They had finished up in the grand manner.

28.           Everton                                   2-4           Manchester United                  Saturday 28^th April 2007

As ever, Manchester United had not making life easy for Sir Alex Ferguson, and had been falling into the Jose Mourinho and Chelsea trap.  They made a disastrous start in a must win game at Goodison Park, trailing to an Alan Stubbs free-kick and a thunderbolt from Manuel Fernandes.  Their reply was the stuff of champions.  John O’Shea nodded in from a corner, Phil Neville kicked the ball into his own net against his former employees then a cool finish from former Blue hero Wayne Rooney turned the game around.  A super strike from Chris Eagles in the dying stages made the result look more comfortable.  Furthermore, Chelsea had been held at home by Bolton and their stranglehold as English champions had been severely loosened by the men from Manchester.

29.           Chelsea                                    4-4           Aston Villa                              Wednesday 26^th December 2007

This Boxing Day clash saw heavy punches literally thrown and a game full of talking points.  Villa held a 2-0 lead, due to an early double from the unsettled Shaun Maloney.  Back came Chelsea, with a brace for the underperforming Andrei Shevchenko and a lovely team goal, finished by Alex.  Martin Laursen pegged Martin O’Neill’s side level again, only for a Michael Ballack free-kick to put Chelsea back infront again.  Amidst all of this, Zat Knight and Ricardo Carvalho had been dismissed by the referee and Ashley Cole followed them for an early shower when he handled on the line in stoppage time.  Gareth Barry converted the spot kick to force a share of the spoils.

30.           Tottenham Hotspur                                4-4           Leicester City                          Sunday 22^nd February 2004

In 2004, Tottenham were in complete disarray, highlighted further by this exciting share of the spoils with fellow comical defending side, Leicester City.  David Pleat’s side were in total control at half-time, 3-1 to the good but goals from old Spurs boy Les Ferdinand, a rare goal for Ben Thatcher and Marcus Bent turned the game on its head.  The Foxes were to be denied three points though, by Jermain Defoe’s 2^nd strike of the game in the final exchanges.  This was a game for the neutrals to remember.

31.           Arsenal                                    3-2           Manchester United                  Sunday 9^th November 1997

On this day, Arsenal began to genuinely realise they were prolific championship contenders, with a thumping critical victory over their deadly rivals.  The deputy for Dennis Bergkamp, Nicholas Anelka flashed in his debut goal for the Gunners and their lead was doubled by countryman, Patrick Vieira.  Never write United at your peril, proven through a double before half-time from ex-Spurs villain, Teddy Sheringham.  With nine minutes to go, a great header from David Platt aided Arsene Wenger to a first triumph in the Premiership over Alex Ferguson.

32.           Tottenham Hotspur                                6-4           Reading                                   Saturday 29^th December 2007

Christmas may have just finished, but both sets of defenders looked like they had stuffed turkey, opening the door for the positive strikers.  Four goals from Dimitar Berbatov and two strikes from Reading’s Dave Kitson were the pick of the front men whilst Jermain Defoe scored his final goal of his first spell at White Hart Lane.

33.           Newcastle United                    4-3           Leicester City                          Sunday 2^nd February 1997

The entertainers of the Premier League in the mid nineties were undoubtedly Newcastle United and they provided more of the same in this supposed home banker.  An early goal from Robbie Elliot settled the pre-game nerves, but three goals from the Foxes in ten rip-roaring minutes by Matt Elliot, Steve Claridge and Emile Heskey stunned St. James Park into silence.  However, if one man could rescue the Magpies, it was skipper Alan Shearer.  A bullet free-kick, a low drive and a simple tap-in in added on time gave Newcastle a morale-boosting triumph.

34.           Liverpool                                                2-1           Blackburn Rovers                   Sunday 14^th May 1995

Victory at Anfield against the former kings of the English game would seal Blackburn’s first championship in 81 years.  Alan Shearer got Rovers off to the perfect start, with a goal after 20 minutes.  Though Liverpool really wanted Manchester United to not win the championship, they were determined to play their part in a dramatic final day.  John Barnes equalised on the hour mark and then a curling free-kick from Jamie Redknapp in injury time put Liverpool infront.  Seconds later, Blackburn fans were cheering as they heard the news that Manchester United had failed to beat West Ham at Upton Park and the Premiership trophy was heading to a new destination of Ewood Park.

35.           Everton                                   2-3           Aston Villa                              Sunday 7^th December 2008

The most likely sides to break into the big four domination of the Premiership played out a pre-Christmas corker.  In-form Villa scored first, through Steve Sidwell in the first minute.  Joleon Lescott replied against the club he was turned down as a trainee.  A communication mix-up between Phil Jagielka and Tim Howard allowed the feisty Ashley Young to restore Villa’s lead.  In a dramatic final minute, Lescott volleyed home a priceless equaliser, before Young cashed in on naïve defending to slot the ball past Howard and claim an unbelievable victory for Martin O’Neill’s side.  No-one will forget this end-to-end showpiece.

36.           Crystal Palace                        2-2           Southampton                          Saturday 7^th May 2005

At Selhurst Park, a dramatic penultimate weekend of the season left the tightest relegation battle in Premiership history totally undecided.  On a see-saw afternoon, the game was deadlocked at 1-1 when a clash involving Peter Crouch and Gonzalo Sorondo saw both men dismissed.  Then, when injury-prone Nicola Ventola converted his first strike for the Eagles, Southampton, were on the brink.  Then in injury time, Danny Higginbotham scored a dramatic leveller and for the first time ever, all three relegation places would only be settled on the last day.

37.           Blackburn Rovers                   3-4           Leeds United                           Sunday 14^th September 1997

For two defensively minded teams, the first 33 minutes were absolutely fabulous as both seem to find attacking football quite attractive on this spring afternoon.  George Graham’s outfit took a 2-0 lead against the early Premier League pacesetters through a bundled effort from Rod Wallace & a charging header by Robert Molenaar.  Ten minutes later, Blackburn levelled the contest up through a super shot by Kevin Gallacher and Chris Sutton’s penalty.  Back came the Yorkshire club, with Wallace scoring again before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink squared David Hopkin up for what turned out to be the decisive goal.  Martin Dahlin battled hard for his goal moments afterwards and after half-time, the managers had calmed the players down and the second half petered out.  However, this match will be remembered for a stone classical first half.

 38.          Wigan Athletic                        3-2           Arsenal                                    Sunday 19^th April 2010

Arsenal was romping away with the match at the DW stadium and with ten minutes left, led 2-0, courtesy of goals from Theo Walcott and Mikael Silvestre.  Cue an astonishing turnaround from Wigan, which well and truly finished off Arsenal’s title chances.  Ben Watson scrambled in from close range, and then Titus Bramble pounced on a horrible blunder from the inconsistent Gunners goalie, Lukas Fabianski.  With Arsenal on the ropes, Charles N’Zogbia floored them in the dying stages, to complete one of the most amazing comebacks the Premiership has ever seen.  Bedlam at the DW, as Wigan confirmed another season in the top flight.

39.           Middlesbrough                        3-3           Liverpool                                                Saturday 17^th August 1996

The opening day headlines in 1996 were taken deservedly so by David Beckham’s wonder halfway line strike at Selhurst Park, but it overshadowed a Premiership classic in the Teesside sunshine.  Fabrizio Ravanelli made himself loved in the North East with a fabulous hat-trick on his Middlesbrough debut as Bryan Robson’s men battled back three times to earn a draw.  Though entertaining throughout the campaign, it turned out to be a nightmare season for Boro, both on and off the pitch, so this was a major highlight.

40.           Arsenal                                    4-4           Tottenham Hotspur                                Wednesday 29^th October 2008

Tottenham were in the doldrums and only five days earlier, had dismissed Juande Ramos after two points from just eight games.  In came Harry Redknapp and a super point in another North London derby classic was just the tonic that the white half of London needed.  A long-range special from David Bentley had Spurs infront, before shoddy defending left Redknapp’s side 4-2 down to the beautiful Arsenal outfit with one minute to go.  Jermaine Jenas reduced the deficit with a solo effort into the top corner and then seconds later; Manuel Almunia parried a Roman Pavlyuchenko effort into the grasp of Aaron Lennon, who benefited on this misjudgement to hand Tottenham a priceless draw.  The result also showed Arsenal’s frailties again of closing out matches under Arsene Wenger.