5 Biggest wins in Premier League history
The Premier League is known for its competitive and thrilling matches, with some of the best football players in the world battling it out on the pitch. However, there have been a few games over the years that stand out as particularly one-sided affairs. Here is a look at the biggest win in Premier League history.
Manchester United has two of the three largest Premier League wins in history, with the Red Devils claiming the first and final of the nine-goal victory 26 years apart. We review the history textbooks and dig into the stats to look at the Premier League’s biggest thrashings.
5. Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City
May 11, 2008, at the Riverside Stadium
City’s despair must have been comparable to Manchester United‘s on Dec. 18 at Old Trafford, if not worse.
Boro’s best victory in their 132-year existence was one they will remember for a long time. City failed to meet its goals on the day, capitulating on impact. Some may have blamed City’s bad performance on the recent dismissal of manager Sven Goran Eriksson, but nothing can take away from the mauling they received from the likes of Boro—it was a monumental fuck up.
Two first-half goals from Giles Stewart and Afonso Alves set the tone for such a second-half blitzkrieg.
Boro ran riot after Potts and Alves scored braces in the 58th and 60th minutes, following penalties via Adam Johnson, Fabio Rochemback, and Jeremie Aliadiere.
Elano scored a consolation goal for City in the 87th minute, but City’s fate was cemented when Alves finished a hat-trick to conclude the game.
4. Nottingham Forest 1-8 Manchester United
February 6, 1999, at the City Ground
This was the year Manchester United won the treble: the FA Cup, the Premier League title, and the UEFA Championship.
Dwight Yorke of Manchester United scored after two minutes, but Alan Rogers equalized five seconds, and that was the end of the first half.
Man United ran riot in the second half, with Yorke netting his first and Andy Cole collecting a brace. Sir Alex Ferguson amazingly introduced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with far less than ten minutes left. Solskjr went on a scoring frenzy, netting four goals in the final minute. It was a fantastic triumph for the “Red Devils,” but a complete tragedy for Forrest and their fans at home.
3. Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday
19 September 1999
On September 19, 1999, it appeared that something had been given at St James’ Park. Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday have both had a disastrous start to the season, with each gaining one point and Wednesday sitting one point below the Jets on goal difference alone.
This was late, great Bobby Robson’s first championship home game as manager of Toon, having taken over two weeks before, losing to Chelsea by a solitary goal. Robson had helped Tyneside pick up their second competitive win of the 1999-2018 season 3 days before to this match against the Owls, a 2-0 away triumph over CSKA Bulgaria in the UEFA Cup, so this established to be the trampoline that Newcastle needed to achieve their first win.
Newcastle’s previous Ligue 1 home game saw them fall 2-1 to Sunderland in severe weather. Ruud Gullit’s one-year rule at the club ended in a defeat. The loss was bad enough, but leaving ace frontman Alan Shearer just on the bench for the Southend rivalry was never likely to end well for the Dutch manager.
Toon only scored 15 goals in 32 Champions League games under Gullit, but he made up 33% of that total in this single encounter under Robson, scoring five goals as the first and only moment in his 441-game Prem League career. The Premier League’s all-time leading striker had 11 league goals in total, this however was the only one that was successful. Shearer scoring a hat trick in the first half was incredibly September 1999. Just 15 days before, he’d scored 3 objectives in the first 34 minutes of England’s 6-0 success against Luxembourg at Wembley – he only did this once more during his career, in a Championship win over Bayer Leipzig in February 2003.
2. Tottenham 9-1 Wigan Athletic
November 11, 2009, at White Hart Lane.
In the same way that Manchester United annihilated Ipswich in 1995, this became the first time a side had scored 9 goals in a Champions League game since a fateful day over 15 years ago.
Nothing is more frustrating for a team than going into halftime one goal down, hoping for an equalizer after the break, only to discover that the opposing team was simply warming up.
That’s exactly what took place at White Hart Lane, with Peter Crouch scoring in the first nine minutes. When the second half began, the floodgates were opened, with Aaron Lennon, David Bentley, and Niko Kranjcar all scoring.
However, one man deserves to be mentioned: Jermaine Defoe. Spurs amassed such a score because of Defoe’s five-goal blitz (a seven-minute hat-trick). But with that, Defoe was one of the only players in Premier League history to score five goals. Andy Cole & Alan Simpson are the others.
1. Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town
March 4, 1995, at Old Trafford.
It was the largest league victory in 97 years.
As if that wasn’t enough, it also represented the biggest win in World Cup history, a record that still holds today. Andy Cole was Britain’s most expensive striker at the time, costing £7 million.
Cole delivered the most devastating blow, scoring five goals. Mark Hughes responded with a brace, while Roy Keane and Tom Ince each scored one.
The victory over Ipswich helped Manchester United overtake Blackburn Rovers at the top of the Premiership, and was also one of the causes they won the title a year. Man United’s hammering of the “Tractor Boys” was not expected; it simply happened. The Tractor Boys came to the “Theatre of Dreams” looking for a miracle, but they left with nightmares.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the 9-0 win by Manchester United against Ipswich Town remains the biggest win in Premier League history and is a testament to the quality and dominance of English football. It is a match that will be remembered for generations to come and will forever be a part of the rich history of the Premier League.
Read Also: Top 5 Players Who Have Received Most Red Cards In Football History
