23 December 2024

Comeback wins have occurred more often than ever in the Premier League since the start of last season, making 2024 a special year for counterattack fans – and a special test for Spurs fans.

Across 63 matches, the 16.6% of matches won from behind in the 2023/24 season represents the highest percentage recorded in competitions where wins from behind occurred during an entire Premier League season, according to He chooses.

By mid-October, the 2024/25 season had achieved an even higher rate of 17.1%. Many other epics followed, including the soul-crushing of bottom teams, one in the Manchester derby and the inevitable misery for Tottenham.

From Molineux to St Mary's, 101GreatGoals.com takes a look back at 10 of the greatest comebacks of the calendar year.

Wolverhampton 3-4 Manchester United, February 1

Long before Wolves suffered relegation and Erik Ten Hag's spell at Manchester United came to an end, Kobe Maino's 97th-minute ruthlessness denied Gary O'Neill's side a point they thought they had won two minutes earlier.

A now-exiled Marcus Rashford opened the scoring days after a series of press reports about the striker enjoying a night out in Belfast, and United looked set for victory when Scott McTominay made it 3-1 after 75 minutes to give them a brace. -Going ahead for the second time.

After Max Kilmann reduced the gap, Pedro Neto equalized in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Surprisingly, there was still time for Maino's side to score the decisive goal, starting a four-game winning streak for Ten Hag that ended with a 97th-minute defeat at home to Fulham on 24 February.

Bournemouth 4-3 Luton, March 13

More than 20 years after a top-flight side rallied from three goals down to win โ€“ Wolves at home to Leicester City, in 2003 โ€“ Bournemouth repeated the trick at Luton, recovering from a 3-0 first-half deficit.

Dominic Solanke began the return five minutes after the start of the second half, Ilya Zabarny added another goal in the 62nd minute, and Antoine Semenyu added a goal in the 64th and 83rd minutes.

“Once we score the first goal, everyone starts to believe,” Cherries manager Andoni Airola told Sky Sports. Luton allowed 85 goals on their way to relegation.

Newcastle 4-3 West Ham, March 30

In an elegant response to Alexander Isak's opening goal for Newcastle in the sixth minute, West Ham equalized 15 minutes later through Michail Antonio and spoiled the mood of the home team's fans in the first half when they took the lead through Mohamed Quddus, who scored his goal after 54 minutes and two seconds. The second most recent first-half goal in Premier League history.

Toon fans may have wished they had not resurfaced in the second half when Jarrod Bowen put West Ham 3-1 ahead after 48 minutes, an advantage they held until Isaac scored his second penalty 13 minutes from time.

Newcastle's introduction of Harvey Barnes midway through the second half proved pivotal in the end. Isak crossed the winger for his first goal inside the box seven minutes from time, and a stunning long-range winner in the 90th minute gave his side their first win after trailing by two goals in five years.

Chelsea 4-3 Manchester United, April 4

During a stunning individual season, Cole Palmer scored two of the last 10 goals scored in the Premier League to thwart Manchester United's impressive comeback at Stamford Bridge.

Connor Gallagher and Palmer scored to put the hosts 2-0 up in the 19th minute, Alejandro Jarnacho and Bruno Fernandes equalized for United in the 39th minute and Jarnacho added another goal 23 minutes before normal playing time.

Nine minutes and 18 seconds of stoppage time had passed when Palmer scored a record-breaking ninth and final goal with an equalizer that would have made most Chelsea fans happy with the result. His second goal, after 100 minutes and 39 seconds, was the third-last ever and the latest ever to win a match.

Everton 2-3 Bournemouth, August 31

Having lost their opening two games of the season without scoring, Everton appeased the majority of Goodison Park fans by scoring twice in the space of eight minutes from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to take a 2-0 lead over Bournemouth.

After Antoine Semenyu's reply in the 87th minute and Lewis Cook's header in the 92nd minute equalized for Bournemouth, the Cherries had time for Marcus Tavernier and Semenyu to go close to the winner before Luis Sinistra headed in Justin Kluivert's cross in the 97th minute.

The result increased Everton's wait for its first victory in August since 2021 to 11 matches. There was more pain in the subsequent game, as they squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Aston Villa.

Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 Tottenham, October 6

In a match between teams known for their high-risk defensive lines, Tottenham looked in a strong position to follow up their 3-0 win over Manchester United with another victory away from home after Brennan Johnson and James Maddison put them 2-0 ahead in the first half.

Brighton had taken the lead before their shortcomings were badly exposed in their 4-2 defeat to Chelsea eight days ago, but the Seagulls showed their attacking verve to score three goals in 19 minutes after the break, starting with Yankuba Mente's 48th-minute goal.

Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck completed the comeback to leave Ange Postecoglou white-faced as he walked across the pitch at full-time. The visiting coach described his players' performance as “unacceptable” and “probably” the worst during his tenure.

Southampton 2-3 Leicester City, October 19

Southampton had lost its previous two matches to Leicester by an aggregate score of 9-1, with Jamie Vardy increasing his record to eight goals and four assists in 19 league matches against them.

First-half goals by Cameron Archer and Joe Aribo appeared to set the Saints on track for a measure of revenge even after Facundo Bonannotti responded in the 64th minute.

Ryan Fraser's sending off with 17 minutes remaining saw the Foxes hound their opponents once again. Vardy converted the resulting penalty into an equaliser, and Jordan Ayew's 98th-minute winner was another nail in the coffin of Southampton manager Russell Martin's tenure at the club.

Brentford 4-3 Ipswich Town, 26 October

Another game in which the two sides came back, with Ipswich – seeking their first win of the season – perhaps scoring too early when Sam Smodics and George Hirst put them 2-0 ahead after 31 minutes.

Yoan Wissa scored twice in three minutes to draw Brentford level before half-time, and Brian Mbeumo's penalty six minutes after the break looked to have turned the game around until Liam Delap equalized four minutes from time.

Mbeumo was the hero in the 96th minute as Brentford proved they could be tough after Ivan Toney's exit, although manager Thomas Frank described himself as “angry” afterwards. โ€œThey were the better team by a wide margin in the first 40 minutes,โ€ he said of Town. โ€œThere was only one team on the pitch, one of the worst teams ever in the Premier League.โ€

Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea, December 8

It's an unfortunate reflection of Spurs' defense this season, as they are the only team to suffer two defeats on this list and have accumulated both in a period of just over two months.

After a tough 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth three days ago, Tottenham took advantage of two mistakes from Mark Cucurella to take a 2-0 lead after 19 minutes at home to Chelsea through goals from Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski.

Cucurella set up Jadon Sancho for a quick response before Palmer's two second-half penalties either side of Enzo Fernandes' goal put Chelsea out of sight. Son Heung-min, who scored during extra time, said afterwards that Tottenham were in a “dark tunnel”.

Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United, December 15

In a match more memorable for Ruben Amorim than for anyone else who witnessed it, the Portuguese won his first Manchester derby with an Amad Diallo-inspired home run.

Jusko Gvardiol's header gave City the lead, which had lost its level in the first half, but Bruno Fernandes equalized two minutes before the end from a penalty kick after Matthews Nunes fouled Imad, who scored United's second goal from a tight angle in the 90th minute.

This was the latest match in which the defending champions led by a Premier League match and lost. City also received an unwelcome reminder of their 3-3 home draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League last October, when they were 3-0 up with 27 minutes to go and conceded an 89th-minute equaliser.

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