On 22 November 2009, Tottenham Hotspur recorded their record Premier League victory, beating Wigan 9-1 with five goals from striker Jermain Defoe.
Nobody would have predicted that score at half time. After going up 1-0 with a 9th-minute header from Peter Crouch, Spurs seemed to lose focus and created few other chances in the first half. As manager Harry Redknapp said later, "they needed reminding at the break."
Whatever he said to remind them must have worked, as the goals began to flow soon after the restart. Defoe netted his first of the day in the 51st minute, followed by his second just three minutes later, and his third just four minutes after that. Then, after a goal from Aaron Lennon (64'), Defoe added two more (69', 87'). Spurs finished the scoring with late goals from David Bentley (88') and Niko Kranjčar (94'). Meanwhile, Wigan's lone goal came from Paul Scharner in the 57th minute.
It was Tottenham's biggest margin of victory in a top-flight match and pushed them back into fourth place, behind Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal, which is how the final table appeared. Defoe's haul made him only the third player to score five in a Premier League match (after Alan Shearer and Andy Cole).
On 11 October 2006, Croatia defeated England 2-0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier due in part to a freakish English own goal.
Played before a crowd of 38,000 at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, it was the third match of the campaign for both sides, with neither yet conceding a goal. Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson was in goal for England, following his strong performance at the 2006 World Cup in which he kept clean sheets in 4 of the 5 matches England played.
The two sides battled to a scoreless stalemate in the first half, with Robinson making a trio of key stops to deny Eduardo, Niko Kranjčar, and Mladen Petric. But Eduardo finally beat Robinson with a 61st-minute header to put Croatia up 1-0. Disaster for England followed shortly afterward.
In the 69th minute, midfielder Gary Neville sent a pass back to Robinson. As the ball rolled tamely toward him, the keeper stepped up to launch it up the pitch. But just as he swung his leg, the ball hit a divot and bounced over Robinson's foot. As Robinson tried to turn, the ball continued rolling, right into the goal.
Croatia went on to win the match 2-0, on their way toward topping the qualifying group. England finished third, one point behind second-place Russia and one spot too low to qualify. Robinson went into international exile, going for over two years until his next England call-up, and retired from the national team in 2010.
On 21 November 2007, the final day of qualification for Euro 2008, Croatia defeated England, 2-3, before a rain-soaked crowd of 88,000 in London's Wembley Stadium. The loss eliminated England from the tournament and sealed the fate of England manager Steve McClaren.
England started the day in second place in Group E on 23 points. They were three points behind leaders Croatia, who had already booked their place in the tournament, and two points ahead of third-place Russia, who were facing last-place Andorra.
England had lost to Croatia 2-0 in Zagreb, but were hoping for a better result at home, despite missing several key players, including forward Wayne Rooney and all four players from their preferred back line. The available personnel forced McLaren to change the formation from a 4-4-2 to a 4-1-4-1, with Peter Crouch playing as the lone striker.
England's hopes took a blow in the 8th minute, as Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjčar found the back of the net with a 25-yard shot that was helped past keeper Scott Carson by a tricky bounce off the wet pitch. Ivica Olić doubled the visitors' lead in the 14th minute as a precision pass by forward Eduardo da Silva beat the English defense and allowed Olić to walk the ball into an open goal.
England entered the second half to a chorus of boos and jeers from the home fans, but soon gave them something to cheer when Jermain Defoe won a penalty which Frank Lampard converted in the 56th minute. Peter Crouch equalized nine minutes later with a goal from a David Beckham pass.
As it turned out, a draw would have been enough to see England through on goal differential, but it did not last. Croatian substitute forward Mladen Petrić (pictured), who had replaced Eduardo in the 69th minute, beat Carson with a 25-yard stunner in the 77th minute. England were unable to find another equalizer and conceded all three points to Croatia.
Russia, as expected, beat Andorra and moved into second place in the group, dropping England into third and out of the tournament. The FA terminated McClaren's contract the next day after only 18 matches in 16 months, making his time in charge of the national team the shortest of any England manager.
On 29 September 2007, Portsmouth and Reading set a Premier League record with a 7-4 scoreline.
It was the eighth game of the season for both teams. Reading had struggled, with only two wins and one draw, and were sitting in seventeenth place. Portsmouth had done a bit better up that point and were in eleventh.
They met at Portsmouth's Fratton Park where the hosts jumped to a quick lead with a strike from forward Benjani Mwaruwari (pictured) in the seventh minute. He doubled the lead in the 37th minute, but Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt cut the deficit back to one right before the break.
The 2-1 halftime scoreline gave little indication of what was coming in the second half. Reading equalized through Dave Kitson three minutes after the restart, but Portsmouth then pulled back ahead with goals from Hermann Hreiðarsson (55'), Benjani (70'), and Niko Kranjčar (75') to set the margin at 5-2.
Shane Long pulled one back for the visitors in the 79th minute, but Reading defender Ívar Ingimarsson deflected a shot past his own goalkeeper, Marcus Hahnemann, two minutes later. So at the end of 90 minutes, the score stood at 6-3, but there were more goals to come. The referee awarded a penalty to Portsmouth in the second minute of stoppage time, converted by Sulley Muntari, then Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell delivered the day's last goal, but into his own net.
The match remains the highest-scoring game in the Premier League, though the record for the top flight is Nottingham Forest's 12-0 win over Leicester Fosse in 1892 (matched by West Brom over Darwen in 1909). The overall league record is 13-0, reached by Stockport County in 1934 and Newcastle in 1946.
On 22 November 2009, Tottenham Hotspur recorded their record Premier League victory, beating Wigan 9-1 with five goals from striker Jermain Defoe.
Nobody would have predicted that score at half time. After going up 1-0 with a 9th-minute header from Peter Crouch, Spurs seemed to lose focus and created few other chances in the first half. As manager Harry Redknapp said later, "they needed reminding at the break."
Whatever he said to remind them must have worked, as the goals began to flow soon after the restart. Defoe netted his first of the day in the 51st minute, followed by his second just three minutes later, and his third just four minutes after that. Then, after a goal from Aaron Lennon (64'), Defoe added two more (69', 87'). Spurs finished the scoring with late goals from David Bentley (88') and Niko Kranjčar (94'). Meanwhile, Wigan's lone goal came from Paul Scharner in the 57th minute.
It was Tottenham's biggest margin of victory in a top-flight match and pushed them back into fourth place, behind Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal, which is how the final table appeared. Defoe's haul made him only the third player to score five in a Premier League match (after Alan Shearer and Andy Cole).
On 11 October 2006, Croatia defeated England 2-0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier due in part to a freakish English own goal.
Played before a crowd of 38,000 at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, it was the third match of the campaign for both sides, with neither yet conceding a goal. Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson was in goal for England, following his strong performance at the 2006 World Cup in which he kept clean sheets in 4 of the 5 matches England played.
The two sides battled to a scoreless stalemate in the first half, with Robinson making a trio of key stops to deny Eduardo, Niko Kranjčar, and Mladen Petric. But Eduardo finally beat Robinson with a 61st-minute header to put Croatia up 1-0. Disaster for England followed shortly afterward.
In the 69th minute, midfielder Gary Neville sent a pass back to Robinson. As the ball rolled tamely toward him, the keeper stepped up to launch it up the pitch. But just as he swung his leg, the ball hit a divot and bounced over Robinson's foot. As Robinson tried to turn, the ball continued rolling, right into the goal.
Croatia went on to win the match 2-0, on their way toward topping the qualifying group. England finished third, one point behind second-place Russia and one spot too low to qualify. Robinson went into international exile, going for over two years until his next England call-up, and retired from the national team in 2010.
On 21 November 2007, the final day of qualification for Euro 2008, Croatia defeated England, 2-3, before a rain-soaked crowd of 88,000 in London's Wembley Stadium. The loss eliminated England from the tournament and sealed the fate of England manager Steve McClaren.
England started the day in second place in Group E on 23 points. They were three points behind leaders Croatia, who had already booked their place in the tournament, and two points ahead of third-place Russia, who were facing last-place Andorra.
England had lost to Croatia 2-0 in Zagreb, but were hoping for a better result at home, despite missing several key players, including forward Wayne Rooney and all four players from their preferred back line. The available personnel forced McLaren to change the formation from a 4-4-2 to a 4-1-4-1, with Peter Crouch playing as the lone striker.
England's hopes took a blow in the 8th minute, as Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjčar found the back of the net with a 25-yard shot that was helped past keeper Scott Carson by a tricky bounce off the wet pitch. Ivica Olić doubled the visitors' lead in the 14th minute as a precision pass by forward Eduardo da Silva beat the English defense and allowed Olić to walk the ball into an open goal.
England entered the second half to a chorus of boos and jeers from the home fans, but soon gave them something to cheer when Jermain Defoe won a penalty which Frank Lampard converted in the 56th minute. Peter Crouch equalized nine minutes later with a goal from a David Beckham pass.
As it turned out, a draw would have been enough to see England through on goal differential, but it did not last. Croatian substitute forward Mladen Petrić (pictured), who had replaced Eduardo in the 69th minute, beat Carson with a 25-yard stunner in the 77th minute. England were unable to find another equalizer and conceded all three points to Croatia.
Russia, as expected, beat Andorra and moved into second place in the group, dropping England into third and out of the tournament. The FA terminated McClaren's contract the next day after only 18 matches in 16 months, making his time in charge of the national team the shortest of any England manager.
