With Halloween fast approaching it’s a good time to look back at some Premier League disasters that some clubs would rather forget.
Premier League Disasters: 5 Biggest Horror Shows in PL History
The English top-flight has thrown up some nightmare performances and here are five of the best, or worst, depending on your point of view.
Premier League Disasters:: Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City (May 11th, 2008)
While Manchester City go in search of a fifth consecutive Premier League title this season, things have not always been so good for the Citizens. Looking back to the 2007/08 season, City endured a trip to Middlesbrough that then manager Sven-Goran Eriksson described as “awful” and “embarrassing”.
They lost centre-back Richard Dunne to a red card in the 15th minute while also giving away a penalty and Boro’s Stuart Downing made no mistake from the spot before the hosts ran riot at the Riverside. Afonso Alves scored the first of his three goals before the break to give Boro a 2-0 lead, at which point City might have still held some hope of getting something from the game.
However, a second-half onslaught with six more goals from the hosts secured an emphatic win for the Teessiders, while an 87th-minute consolation goal from City’s Elano would have brought about only ironic cheers from both sets of supporters.
Premier League Disasters:: Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal (August 28th, 2011)
Manchester United and Arsenal have delivered some iconic Premier League moments, but their meeting in August 2011 was one that left Gunners fans hiding behind the sofa. Again this was a game that still had the result somewhat in the balance at the break, with United leading 3-1 thanks to goals from Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney, while Theo Walcott had given the Gunners a lifeline just before half-time.
That Walcott goal only seemed to poke the bear, as United tore through the Gunners’ defence at will, with two more goals from Rooney, another from Young, along with efforts from Nani and Park-Ji Sung. A Robin van Persie goal was of little consolation in the 74th minute, while Carl Jenkinson’s red card three minutes later simply added insult to injury.
Premier League Disasters:: Southampton 0-9 Leicester City (October 25th, 2019)
The Saints were really the sinners on a Friday night back in October 2019 as Southampton lost 9-0 on home soil against Leicester City. Ben Chilwell opened the scoring after just 10 minutes for the Foxes, before Ryan Bertrand was sent off at St Mary’s just two minutes later.
It was one-way traffic from that point on, as Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Perez both scored hat-tricks, while Youri Tielemans and James Maddison also scored on a dark day for the south coast club.
Premier League Disasters:: Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool (October 4th, 2020)
Jurgen Klopp didn’t have many horror show performances during his successful Liverpool tenure, but a 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa in October 2020 was certainly one of them. A first-half hat-trick from Ollie Watkins and a goal from John McGinn stunned the Reds to give Villa a 4-1 lead at the break.
A brace from Jack Grealish and a goal from Ross Barkley capped off a dream performance from Dean Smith’s side, while Mohamed Salah is unlikely to have felt less happy about a Premier League brace in his entire career.
Premier League Disasters:: Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United (March 5th, 2023)
While that night at Villa Park was one to forget for Liverpool, a 7-0 thrashing of old rivals Manchester United at Anfield in March 2023 was one to remember for Klopp. Unbelievably, Liverpool only led by a goal to nil at the break, with Cody Gakpo scoring just before the half-time whistle.
Only someone with supernatural foresight could have predicted what would come in the second half, as United crumbled to their biggest defeat in the history of their rivalry with Liverpool. Gakpo bagged a second, while braces from Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez, along with a goal from Roberto Firmino completed the rout. As former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher cackled in the stands, fellow commentator Gary Neville looked white as a ghost as the horror show unfolded for his beloved Red Devils.
By Adrian Mills
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