Football is unpredictable and due to its low-scoring nature, great comebacks are, perhaps paradoxically, not uncommon. In higher scoring sports like rugby or basketball, teams need to come from a long, long way behind for it to be particularly noteworthy. But because scoring is easier and luck plays a smaller role in the outcome, such comebacks are less common because in general whichever side is better will tend to be on top throughout.
In contrast, in football, a team may play well but miss their chances, allowing the inferior team to take a lead. Alternatively, the better side could be in front, but then have a very poor, sloppy or simply unlucky five minutes. With many games settled by just a goal, a remarkable, noteworthy turnaround may mean scoring just one or perhaps two goals, especially if they are late in the match.
Over the years the Premier League has seen many incredible comebacks, with Newcastle’s 4-4 thriller against Arsenal back in 2010/11 a true classic. The Magpies were 4-0 down with less than 25 minutes to go and snatched a draw. More recently, in the 2023/24 campaign we saw Bournemouth become the first team in 21 years to turn a three-goal PL deficit into a win. 3-0 down against Luton at the break, they scored four times in the final 40 minutes to win a real thriller.
There have been far too many comebacks to even briefly list them all but did we see the craziest, best turnaround in PL history on the 4th of April 2024? Best and craziest may be subjective terms but it was certainly the latest.
Chelsea Stun Man United with Two Seriously Late Goals
Neither Chelsea nor Man United are where they want to be right now in terms of their league position and their status within the sport. Both have relatively new owners at the helm who will try and turn things around but it will take time. However, whilst both will probably endure another campaign without a trophy, if there was an award for game of the season, they would certainly be in with a chance of winning that!
Chelsea v United is still billed, at least by its broadcasters, as a huge clash but really, aside from United’s slim chances of booking a Champions League spot, there was not much riding on this. Perhaps both managers’ jobs, to a degree, but not much else, and we suspect there were not huge swathes of neutrals tuning in.
However, anyone who decided to watch anything else at all, even if it was their child’s West End debut or their wife giving birth, missed out. Perhaps. The Red Devils came into the fixture eight points clear of the Blues, feeling that if they could win they could maybe begin to put a little pressure on Spurs and Villa.
However, after just 19 minutes they found themselves two goals down against a Chelsea side that most pundits feel lacks balance, cohesion and leadership. Conor Gallagher, captaining the hosts at Stamford Bridge, gave Chelsea the lead after just four minutes. A quarter of an hour later, Cole Palmer tucked away a penalty after Marc Cucurella had been fouled inside the box.
Comeback Number 1: United Take the Lead
Chelsea supporters were pobably wondering how many they would win by at that point but they were wrong to get ahead of themselves. In the first incredible comeback of the night, United levelled the scores before half time and then took the lead with 23 minutes (plus stoppage time!) to go.
The dislikeable but hugely talented Alejandro Garnacho got United’s first, punishing a strange, hard to fathom mistake by Moises Caicedo. The big-money signing played a terrible ball to nobody, at least nobody in blue, and set Garnacho free. The Argentine burst through and finished calmly.
Just a few minutes later United were level, Bruno Fernandes heading home unmarked at the far post. The fightback was then complete, or so it seemed, when Antony, who had given away the penalty earlier, found Garnacho with a sumptuous cross with the outside of his boot. Garnacho nodded home and United now had a lead, with a quarter of the game to play.
Don’t Leave Before Full Time… Ever!
As the game wore on, United seemed content to try and control possession and Chelsea struggled to create too much in the way of real chances. The 90 minutes passed and the fourth official indicated there would be eight more played. United and their travelling fans must have thought they had done enough and we suspect a decent number of the home supporters decided to leave early.
With the extra additional minutes almost up, however, the game took a dramatic turn as Chelsea appeared to win a penalty. A VAR review took far longer than should have been needed to confirm that Diego Dalot had fouled the marauding Noni Madueke inside the area.
United led 3-2 with more than 99 minutes played but Palmer stepped up and cooly slotted home his second penalty of the night. Once again, the game was level, but the drama was far from over.
In the 11th minute of stoppage time United were sloppy from a corner and left Palmer in acres on the edge of the box. He drove his shot toward goal but it seemed unlikely to trouble the goalkeeper until Scott McTominay, attempting a block, deflected into his own goal. From 2-0, Chelsea had slumped to 3-2 and so it remained until the 100th minute but somehow Chelsea won the game 4-3.
Unwanted Records for United
No side in the entire history of the Premier League had ever led a game as late as United did here and then gone on to lose. They had the upper hand as late as 99 minutes and 17 seconds but somehow contrived to go home empty handed. We do not have full records of all top-flight goals but given how rare such lengthy stoppage time was until the last few years, we suspect this is not just a PL record but also spans the entirety of top-tier English football.
United also conceded the latest goal to lose a Premier League game, Palmer completing his hat-trick with 100 minutes and a further 39 seconds on the clock. What a game! And what fools those who left early!