22 December 2007 - Bendtner Rises To The Occasion

On 22 December 2007, Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner set an English record by scoring only 1.8 seconds after coming on as a late substitute against Tottenham Hotspur.

Although Bendtner had signed with the Gunners back in 2005, he had spent the 2006-07 season on loan at Birmingham and was eager to establish a place in the Arsenal first team. By December, he had scored crucial goals in the League Cup and the Champions League, but had not yet opened his Premier League account.

His moment finally came in the North London derby, as Arsenal hosted Tottenham. With Bendtner on the bench, Arsenal took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Emmanuel Adebayor (48'), but Dimitar Berbatov (66') drew Spurs level. The visitors had a chance to go ahead in the 72nd minute after the referee awarded a penalty for a Kolo Toure foul on Berbatov, but Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved Robbie Keane's tame attempt.

Two minutes later, with the match level at 1-1, Arsene Wenger made an attacking change, sending Bendtner on for midfielder Emmanuel Eboue. The Danish striker immediately positioned himself near the far post for a Cesc Fabregas corner kick, then charged into the goalmouth to head the ball past goalkeeper Paul Robinson. It was Bendtner's first touch of the ball, coming only 1.8 seconds after he entered the match, and proved to be the game winner. It is also the fastest goal scored by a substitute in English football history.

29 December 2007 - It's A Distinction They Could Do Without

On 29 December 2007, Reading played in the second of the Premier League's two highest-scoring games, losing both.

The first was a 7-4 defeat to Portsmouth on 29 September that beat the previous record of nine goals set by Southampton's 4-5 win over Norwich in April 1994. The loss dropped the Royals into seventeenth place in the Premier League table, but they fought their way back into twelfth before traveling to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham two months later.

There, they conceded an early goal to Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov (pictured) in the seventh minute, but equalized nine minutes later through midfielder Kalifa Cissé. In the second half, Reading pulled ahead with a 53rd-minute goal from Ívar Ingimarsson, but Berbatov scored again ten minutes later to make it 2-2.

Berbatov scored a third (73') in between a brace from Reading's Dave Kitson (69', 74') and Reading led 3-4. But a late onslaught from Spurs saw goals from Steed Malbranque (76'), Jermain Defoe (79'), and a fourth from Berbatov (83') as the hosts won 6-4 to hit the second-highest scoring mark since the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The overall English record, however, was set at 17 when Tranmere Rovers beat Oldham Athletic 13-4 in the Third Division South in 1935.

Although Reading dropped only one spot in the table after the loss to Spurs, it was the first of eight consecutive league losses, a run that pushed them down to 18th by the end of February, which is where they ended up in the final table. Although level on points with Fulham, Reading were the ones relegated, separated from safety by a goal differential of -25 to Fulham's -22.

10 November 2012 - A Rebuttal To The "Draws Are Boring" Crowd

On 10 November 2012, a missed Arsenal penalty in stoppage time helped Fulham preserve a dramatic 3-3 draw at the Emirates.

The teams opened the day occupying the seventh and eighth spots in the table. They were level on points, with Arsenal taking the higher position by virtue of a better goal differential. Playing in front of a crowd of just over 60,000, the Gunners staked an early claim to what looked to be an easy three points after first-half goals from new signings Olivier Giroud (11') and Lukas Podolski (23') gave them a 2-0 lead. But Dimitar Berbatov, playing in his first season for the Cottagers, closed the gap with a 29th-minute goal, then provided the assist for Alex Kacaniklic's equalizer in the 40th minute.

In the 67th minute, Berbatov put Fulham ahead with a penalty kick after Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta fouled Bryan Ruiz in the box, but Giroud headed home two minutes later to restore the balance.

Level at 3-3 in stoppage time, Arteta had an opportunity to atone for his earlier mistake. In the fourth minute of added time, the referee awarded a penalty to Arsenal for a handball by Sascha Riether. Arteta stepped up to take the shot, but was denied by Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who stretched low to his left to knock the ball away.

22 December 2007 - Bendtner Rises To The Occasion

On 22 December 2007, Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner set an English record by scoring only 1.8 seconds after coming on as a late substitute against Tottenham Hotspur.

Although Bendtner had signed with the Gunners back in 2005, he had spent the 2006-07 season on loan at Birmingham and was eager to establish a place in the Arsenal first team. By December, he had scored crucial goals in the League Cup and the Champions League, but had not yet opened his Premier League account.

His moment finally came in the North London derby, as Arsenal hosted Tottenham. With Bendtner on the bench, Arsenal took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Emmanuel Adebayor (48'), but Dimitar Berbatov (66') drew Spurs level. The visitors had a chance to go ahead in the 72nd minute after the referee awarded a penalty for a Kolo Toure foul on Berbatov, but Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved Robbie Keane's tame attempt.

Two minutes later, with the match level at 1-1, Arsene Wenger made an attacking change, sending Bendtner on for midfielder Emmanuel Eboue. The Danish striker immediately positioned himself near the far post for a Cesc Fabregas corner kick, then charged into the goalmouth to head the ball past goalkeeper Paul Robinson. It was Bendtner's first touch of the ball, coming only 1.8 seconds after he entered the match, and proved to be the game winner.

27 November 2010 - Another Bad Day To Be A Goalkeeper

On 27 November 2010, the Premier League saw its greatest ever goal tally for a single day as teams found the net a record 36 times.

Sixteen teams played that day and every one of them scored at least one goal. There were a handful of debuts as West Ham's Victor Obinna and Arsenal's Jack Wilshere got their first league goals (in wins over Wigan and Aston Villa, respectively), while Villa midfielder Ciaran Clark netted the first and second goals of his career.

But the day's best performance came from Dimitar Berbatov, who struck five times for Manchester United in a 7-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers. In doing so, the Bulgarian became only the fourth Premier League player to score five in one match, following Jermain Defoe, Alan Shearer, and Andy Cole.