Manchester United has two of the four biggest wins in Premier League history. They recorded the first and third of their nine-goal victories 26 years apart. We delve through the history books and into the data as we look at the eight- and nine-goal thrashings in Premier League history in chronological order.
Manchester United vs. Ipswich Town, March 4, 1995
Second-placed Manchester United hosted second-from-bottom Ipswich Town at Old Trafford in March 1995. This was after a shock 1-0 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park a week earlier.
United were without the talismanic Eric Cantona, as only five games prior he’d inexplicably kicked a fan in the chest in their 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. Cantona had scored 18 goals in 21 Premier League appearances before the incident. United were dealt a further blow when their top scorer, Andrei Kanchelskis (13 goals), handed in a transfer request on the eve of this fixture.
Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to deploy out-of-form Mark Hughes, who’d scored just five goals in 22 league appearances in 1994–95 prior to the game, partnering him with new signing Andy Cole. Cole had scored just two goals in his six league appearances for United following a shock move from Newcastle for a then-british transfer record fee of £6 million. Including his time at the Magpies, Cole had netted twice in 12 Premier League games coming into this match, and the pressure was on him to find the goals in Cantona’s absence. He did just that, finding his scoring boots to net five of them in this game. Roy Keane, Hughes (two), and Paul Ince completed the rout.
Ipswich Town, which had defeated United 3-2 at Portman Road earlier in the season, had a torrid afternoon. Cole became the first player to score five goals in an English top-flight game since October 29, 1983, when both Ian Rush and Tony Woodcock managed them on the same day.
Spare a thought for goalkeeper Craig Forrest, who conceded nine this afternoon and then conceded seven more in a 7-1 defeat to United at Old Trafford for West Ham in April 2000. Peter Schmeichel, in the United goal on the day of the 9-0 thrashing, only allowed a goal once all season at Old Trafford in his 17 Premier League appearances there, the goal coming in his final match there in 1994–95 with Southampton’s Simon Charlton ruining an impeccable record with just 85 minutes left to go in United’s home campaign.
The Tractor Boys’ starting XI on this day had an average age of 30 years and 58 days. This is one of only two times in Premier League history that they have named a side with an average age of 30 or more. Their experience didn’t pay off against United.
This defeat certainly dented Ipswich’s confidence, and they were to continue on to win just four points from their remaining 11 games, before finishing bottom of the league and 18 points from safety. Manchester United gained ground on Blackburn Rovers after this win, reducing a three-point gap to just one point come the end of the 1994–95 season. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the
Rovers from winning their first top-flight title in 81 years.
Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday, September 19, 1999
It seemed like something had happened at St. James’ Park on Sunday, September 19, 1999. Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday started the season poorly, each winning one point, with Wednesday propping up the table, below Newcastle on goal difference only.
This was the late, magnificent Bobby Robson’s first league home game in charge of Newcastle. He had taken charge two weeks previously, losing by a single goal in his first match away at Chelsea. Three days before this game, Robson helped Newcastle win their first competitive victory of the 1999-2000 season with a 2-0 away win against CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Cup. That proved to be the springboard they needed to get their first league win of the campaign.
Newcastle’s previous Premier League home game saw them lose 2-1 to rival Sunderland. It ended Ruud Gullit’s one-year reign at the club. The defeat was a disappointment enough, but leaving star striker Alan Shearer on the bench for the Tyne-Wear derby never ended well for the Dutch boss.
Shearer scored 15 times in 32 Premier League games under Gullit. However, he reached 33% of this tally in this single match under Robson. He netted five goals for the first and only time in his 441-game Premier League career. The all-time leading Premier League goalscorer accumulated 11 hat tricks in the competition overall. However, he was the only one to score all of his goals during the first half of a match. He had the match ball to take home after 42 minutes.
Shearer scored a first-half hat trick in September 1999. Just 15 days earlier, he’d scored three goals in the opening 34 minutes of England’s 6-0 win over Luxembourg at Wembley. He only did this once in his career, in a February 2003 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Newcastle improved dramatically and finished the campaign in 11th position, with Shearer scoring 23 Premier League goals; only Kevin Phillips netted more in 1999-00 (30).
Sheffield Wednesday ended a nine-year top flight stint at the end of the season and, with 23 defeats, suffered their least successful top-flight season since 1969–70 (25 losses). They haven’t returned to the Premier League since.
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan Athletic, November 22, 2009
We had to wait 10 whole years for the next Premier League win of eight or more goals, but Wigan Athletic then spoiled us with two in the space of six months. The first of these was a second-half capitulation at White Hart Lane on a Sunday afternoon in November 2009. Fifty minutes into the match, Spurs led 1-0, with Wigan probably thinking that with the right luck they could leave north London with a point. Jermain Defoe put paid to that with a 51st-minute strike and then four goals in 36 minutes to fire Spurs to a 9-1 victory.
Tottenham are still the only Premier League team to score more than six goals in a half of a match. Defoe is the only player in the competition to score five goals in a half. Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland saved both of Defoe’s first-half shots on target. However, he had no such luck in the second period, with the diminutive striker scoring with all five shots fired at goal.
The Peter Crouch/Jermain Defoe strike partnership worked well for Spurs that day. Overall, in Premier League history, the pair spent 3,786 minutes on the pitch together across Portsmouth and Tottenham. They scored a combined 44 goals in that time (27 goals for Defoe, 17 for Crouch), a productive ratio of a goal every 86 minutes for the small and large pairings.
At the end of the season, this victory helped Spurs secure fourth place and a place in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. This was at Manchester City's expense. They may have scored just one more goal (10) in their following nine Premier League games combined than they did this afternoon at White Hart Lane. However, this victory made people more wary of the potential Spurs threat under Harry Redknapp.
Chelsea 8-0 Wigan Athletic, May 9, 2010
As if one eight-goal deficit in London wasn’t enough in a single season for Wigan fans, Roberto Martinez’s side gave another astonishingly inept defensive display just six months later. This time it was an 8-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Chelsea had won their last home game 7-0 against Stoke City in April and in the previous month had enjoyed a 7-1 victory at Stamford Bridge versus Aston Villa, so it was an ominous trip for a Wigan side that had already conceded 47 goals in their previous 18 league away trips in 2009-10. That bad feeling wasn’t misjudged.
A Didier Drogba hat trick across 17 second-half minutes contributed to the emphatic win, with Wigan not helped by being reduced to 10 men following Gary Caldwell’s dismissal on the half-hour mark. These three goals helped Drogba reach a career-best 29 goals in 2009-10 and win the Premier League golden boot ahead of Wayne Rooney (26), while teammate Frank Lampard picked up two assists and ended the season with a league-high 14.
Both players helped contribute to 103 Premier League goals for Chelsea in 2009-10, at the time, the highest tally of goals scored by a side in a top-flight English league season since Tottenham Hotspur in 1962–63 (111). This record has since been broken in the Premier League era by Manchester City and their amazing 106-goal tally in their 100-point season of 2017-18.
This victory sealed the Premier League title for Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea side. They held a one-point lead over Manchester United entering the final Sunday of action. Knowing a victory in this match would see them win the Premier League for the third time overall, the Blues finished their season in style.
Amazingly, of the nine wins by a margin of eight or more goals in Premier League history, this is the only one by a team that won the title that season. In winning 8-0, they also sealed their biggest margin of victory in league history, a standalone record until just two and a half years later.
Chelsea 8-0 Aston Villa, December 23, 2012
Chelsea needed an eight-nil win, so they had to replicate the feat. Aston Villa were the victims this time around, with the hosts giving their fans an early Christmas present to take home with them from Stamford Bridge.
Villa traveled to Chelsea after a five-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. They were buoyed by a brilliant 3-1 away victory at Anfield against Liverpool just a week earlier. Paul Lambert’s side would soon bounce back down to earth, however, as they came up against a Chelsea side in the mood for goals.
Chelsea boss Rafa Bentez had only taken charge a month earlier following the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo. He had begun to steady the Chelsea ship with just one defeat in his first four league matches in charge. This was coming into the pre-Christmas matchday visit of Villa. Fernando Torres enjoyed a brilliant month under his fellow Spaniard, scoring six times in five competitive games in December. He started the rout with a third-minute goal in this fixture.
This was followed by further goals from David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Frank Lampard, Oscar, Eden Hazard, and a brace from Ramires. With seven different Chelsea players scoring, the Blues set an unprecedented Premier League record for the highest number of players on a single team. This was in a match. This record could have been extended had Lucas Piazon converted a late penalty with his only-ever shot in his only-ever Premier League appearance.
For Aston Villa, this was (and remains) their all-time club record defeat in a competitive fixture. They’ve only conceded eight goals in one other match: an 8-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in the 1888–89 FA Cup.
Chelsea equaled their best-ever league victory, with their two 8-0 efforts just 959 days apart; they haven’t replicated this since or in the 105 years before the first eight-goal win over Wigan Athletic in 2010.
Southampton 8-0 Sunderland, October 18, 2014
Ahead of this match, Southampton manager Ronald Koeman stated in his pre-game press conference that “it will be difficult because Sunderland are strong opponents with a good defense and organization.” This proved to be only slightly off the mark, as Sunderland were demolished at St Mary’s Stadium.
A spectacular volleyed own goal from Santiago Vergini in the 12th minute set the tone for a comical afternoon. Sunderland conceded seven more times, scoring three own goals. Liam Bridcutt and Patrick van Aanholt added to Vergini’s effort to see Sunderland equal their own Premier League record of three own goals in a single match. This was set in February 2003 against Charlton Athletic.
No other club has scored three own goals in a Premier League game once, but Sunderland has twice. Every club needs an ethos.
This was Sunderland’s fourth defeat by eight or more goals in English top-flight history. It followed thrashings against Sheffield Wednesday in 1911, West Ham in 1968, and Watford in 1982. The only club to have lost more in this manner is Birmingham City, with five such defeats.
Following this match, Southampton were third in the Premier League table after eight matchdays. Despite showing how strong they were in attack on this Saturday afternoon, it was the mean defense with a league-low five goals conceded that was the launchpad. 15% of their entire goal tally in the 2014-15 Premier League season came in this single game. However, their defense remained mediocre: just 33 goals were conceded all season, with only champions Chelsea giving up fewer (32), as the Saints finished a very respectable seventh.
Manchester City 8-0 Watford, September 21, 2019
It is surprising to see Manchester City appear on this list only once. In fact, for a long time, they only got close to the list through defeat, being defeated by Middlesbrough 8-1 in May 2008. Nevertheless, that was then, and it is now. Watford travel to face the reigning Premier League champions in their sixth game of the 2019–20 campaign. However, their second manager of the season is already in the dugout.
Quique Sánchez Flores returned for a second stint following Javi Gracia's sacking two weeks earlier. Gracia was denied an opportunity to avenge the 6-0 FA Cup final thrashing by City just months before. However, for Watford players, it was business as usual against the Premier League giants as they suffered another loss.
Their previous seven meetings with Watford saw City outscore the Hertfordshire club 31-3. Pep Guardiola’s side had no issue adding another eight to their tally on a balmy afternoon in Manchester. After just 18 minutes, City led 5-0, the fastest a side in the Premier League had ever been five goals ahead in a match. Compared to an average of a goal conceded every three and a half minutes, the final 72 minutes were a success for Watford, conceding ‘just’ three more times.
City secured their biggest win in top-flight league history, while this was Watford’s heaviest ever defeat in English league football and only the third occasion they've conceded eight goals in a Football League game. This was after 8-1 defeats against Aberdare Athletic in January 1926 and Crystal Palace in September 1959.
Flores lasted 84 days at Watford this time around. He was one of three managers to be sacked by the club in 2019–20, alongside Gracia and Nigel Pearson. His was probably the most deserved, winning just one game and seven points in 10 matches. None of them could prevent Watford from relegation.
Southampton 0-9 Leicester City, October 25, 2019
Ahead of October 2019, Leicester City had never won a Premier League match on Friday, with five defeats in seven games. In fact, they’d played more games on that day of the week without winning than any other side in the competition's history. They were about to end that run in style.
Only three games in Premier League history have seen a team have two hat-trick scorers in the same match. Robert Pires and Jermaine Pennant both scored trebles for Arsenal in their 6-1 win over Southampton in May 2003. In 2019, the Saints suffered the same fate again in this 9-0 defeat to Leicester City. Erling Haaland and Phil Foden made it three with their two hat-tricks in Manchester City’s 6-3 win over Manchester United in October 2022.
Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Pérez netted hat-tricks this time around during the win at St Mary’s Stadium, the biggest-ever victory by an away side in English top-flight league history. Pérez’s hat-trick meant that he had scored three times in successive Premier League appearances against Southampton, having also done so for Newcastle United six months previously. In doing so, he became the first player to do this in back-to-back Premier League appearances against a single opponent since Luis Suárez versus Norwich City in September 2012.
Just like the 8-0 Manchester City win over Watford a month earlier, this game saw Leicester City leading 5-0 at halftime. This was the 91st game of the 2019-20 season. A team leading 5-0 at halftime happened twice in the campaign. This had only happened in 10,506 matches across the first 27 Premier League seasons before this.
One consolation for Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhüttl would be that it surely couldn’t get this disastrous for him and his side again. Could it?
Manchester United 9-0 Southampton, February 2, 2021
So we arrive at Manchester United’s second appearance on this list. However, they sandwiched the two 9-0 thrashings mentioned here with a 7-0 victory over Barnsley in 1997 and an 8-1 demolition of Nottingham Forest in 1999. As if one 9-0 humiliation wasn’t enough for Southampton and Ralph Hasenhüttl, they suffered a repeat nightmare just 15 months after their thrashing by Leicester City.
Old Trafford witnessed its second 9-0 scoreline in Premier League history. However, this time around, United were heavily assisted by a red card to Alexandre Jankewitz just one minute and 22 seconds into the match. He didn’t manage to touch the ball before his foul on Scott McTominay. Seven different United players scored on the night, equaling a Premier League record for a club in a single game. This is on par with Chelsea’s feat against Aston Villa in December 2012.
The other player to score for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in this thrashing was Southampton defender Jan Bednarek. He later completed an unprecedented hat trick in the game, with a penalty conceded and a red card (for which the ban was later rescinded) as he became the first player in Premier League history to do all three in a single match.
If you include Bednarek’s own goal, it was the first time in United’s club history that eight different players scored for them in a competitive fixture. This eclipsing seven in their 1892 10-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Southampton came into the game in 11th place and became the highest-placed side to suffer such a thrashing in the competition. Spare a thought for their midfielder James Ward-Prowse, who was the only player to play the entirety of the two 9-0 defeats just 15 months apart.
Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth, August 27, 2022
After winning just two points from their opening three games of the 2022–23 Premier League season, Liverpool knew they needed a positive result in their fourth match of the campaign against Bournemouth. Winning 9-0 certainly sent positive vibes to their fans.
Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool side scored nine goals in a single top-flight game for the first time since September 1989 versus Crystal Palace (9-0). In fact, this win was their joint-biggest margin of victory in league history (9-0 vs. Crystal Palace in 1989 and 10-1 vs. Rotherham Town in 1896).
Bournemouth's signs were ominous after the opening 45 minutes. It was 5-0 at halftime, meaning the Reds had scored five goals in a single half of top-flight league football for the first time since October 1927 against Portsmouth.
With Scott Parker becoming the first Premier League manager to concede nine goals while wearing a cardigan, Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino had a fun-filled afternoon at Anfield. The Brazilian scored two goals and assisted another three in the rout, making him just the third Liverpool player to contribute to five Premier League goals in a single match after Mohamed Salah against Watford in March 2018 and Luis Suárez versus Norwich in December 2013.
Further good news for the Reds came via goals from Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho (both 19 years old), meaning that Liverpool had two different teenagers score in the same Premier League game for the first time in their history.
Source: theanalyst
