Highest Scoring Football Matches
Matches with Most Goals in the Premership
Reading and Portsmouth smashed the Premiership record earlier this season in a match that saw 11 goals scored. But which other matches have produced the most goals?
With the usual suspects at the top of the league people were beginning to wonder if the Premiership was becoming, dare I say it, boring. But then a result came along that took everybody by surprise as Portsmouth beat Reading 7-4 and set a new Premiership record of goals scored in a match to 11. With the critics confounded and the crowds left hoping for more 11 goal thrillers, it’s time to find out the top goal scoring games in the history of the Premiership.
1. Portsmouth 7 Reading 4 – 29 September 2007
An incredible game (unless you are a Reading fan) which saw a Premiership record 11 goals scored, a missed penalty and a deceptively calm half-time score of Portsmouth 2 Reading 1. Eight goals followed, including two own goals, a penalty and a hat trick for Portsmouth striker Benjani in a tumultuous second half. Incredibly for Reading they had a chance to level the scores at 3-2 when awarded a penalty but Nicky Shorey missed and from then on the afternoon went from bad to worse.
2. Arsenal 5 Tottenham 4 – 13 November 2004
A topsy-turvey North London derby that saw Tottenham dominate the first half only to go in at half-time dispirited as Thierry Henry cancelled out Naybet’s opener leaving the sides equal at 1-1. Arsenal then took the lead through a Lauren penalty and Vieria made it 3-1 before Defoe snatched one back for Spurs. Their revival didn’t last long however as Ljungberg restored Arsenal’s two goal advantage before King managed to drag one back once again. It wasn’t to be quite enough however as Pires finally put the game out of Tottenham’s reach with less than 10 minutes to go to ensure that Kanoute’s last minute goal was too little too late.
3. Blackburn 7 Sheffield Wednesday 2 – 25 August 1997
A game that saw four goals in the first ten minutes giving Blackburn a 3-1 lead and a half-time of advantage of 5-1. Although Wednesday had the guts to come out for the second half it was purely a damage limitation exercise.
4. Nottingham Forest 1 Manchester United 8 – 6 February 1999
Memorable not just for being the largest away win in the Premiership, but also for the performance of Manchester United ‘super sub’ Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United were already 4-1 up and cruising thanks to goals from Yorke and Cole when the Norwegian was introduced for Yorke. In the last ten minutes he destroyed Forest single-handedly, scoring four times and ensuring United ran out 8-1 winners.
5. Tottenham 7 Southampton 2 – 11 March 2000
Although Southampton took the lead twice in this match it wasn’t long before they were staring a huge defeat in the face and they were 4-2 down by half-time. David Ginola had a hand in four goals and a Steffen Iversen hat trick, ensured that Tottenham hit seven for the first time in the top division since 1968. To say Southampton were woeful, would be an understatement.
