Liverpool were on record this weekend, scoring nine unanswered goals against Bournemouth to score the biggest margin of victory in the Premier League era and score nine goals in a league game for the first time since 1989.
It’s for whoever’s following the club, you guess – unless you’re sent to work in Blackpool against Bristol City for the day.
I chose a great day not to go to the game. I chose a great day not to go to the game. I chose a fine day not to go to…….
– Caoimhe O’Neill (@CaoimheSport) August 27 2022
(It was 3-3 at Bloomfield Road in fairness, so it wasn’t all bad.)
It made us think about the biggest games we missed. Let us know who got away in the comments section below…
Argentina 2-3 England 2005
The person who ran away? 2005 friendly and easy.
Geneva was the location and I was there on the field. Or I was when Walter Samuel made it 2-1 for Argentina at the start of the second half. After paying £50 to a Belfast local two months ago to enjoy sitting amongst home fans at the railway station for 90 minutes as England lost 1-0, something happened in Switzerland. I had enough.
“Let’s go, there is no cat in hell chance of this useless ******* getting anything tonight. I need a drink.”
So, we went, bewildered by the hostess who had to open the gates especially for us to leave with half an hour of play.
Well, we all know what happened next.
First, Michael Owen equalized two minutes before the end. Then, in injury time, Owen did it again. Chaos in the England division as everyone celebrated a famous 3-2 victory over a top opponent.
Owen watches the ball pass Argentina goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri (Photo: Owen Humphreys – PA Images / PA Images via Getty Images)
For our little party, we couldn’t even see the goals on TV. Instead, we were stuck on a tram, advancing slowly on the way back to downtown at a snail’s pace.
Richard Sutcliffe
Nuremberg 0-2 Everton, 2007
I had two choices in the winter of 2007: Florence or Nuremberg.
Everton were in the group stage of the Europa League and I would be able to take two days off from work to attend one of those two matches.
He advised Europe’s veterans outside of Germany, but I’ve been a fan of Fiorentina ever since I watched Gazzetta Football Italy as a kid. I also imagined Domo and David seeing Michelangelo. (This was much to the amusement of my companion, who described me as a Niles fan of football from Fraser.)
Well, I got two hours of culture. I also had 48 hours of torrential rain, heavy local police, a ban that shut down most city bars for 24 hours before the game, a knife pulled on us, and a dismal 2-0 defeat seen behind a strange plastic pen in the far away and… Lest I forget, I drowned I was so sad that I missed my flight home the next morning.
Victor Anishby celebrates after scoring against Nuremberg (Photo: TIMM SCHAMBERGER/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)
I hear (because I often remind my cynical friend, who has played both games) that Nurnberg was really nice. 2-0 win, smiling police, friendly sponsors, great atmosphere and many highlights of Everton’s away days in the David Moyes era. I’m sorry I missed it.
Greg O’Keefe
Leicester City 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur, 2022
When COVID-19 was at its peak, the fear of getting lost was inevitable. We’ve all missed out on so many moments that we wish we’d been there (and the following example is, of course, quite insignificant compared to what a lot of people have been through).
For me, this FOMO was even more severe in January when after a positive test I had to sit down for Tottenham’s flight to Leicester City. I was asymptomatic and felt especially sad because I was missing the match.
After 94 minutes 51 seconds though, I didn’t feel bad. Spurs were heading for their third defeat in two weeks, and the prospect of snatching another loss wasn’t particularly attractive.
And then Steven Bergwijn did what he wanted, Spurs won 3-2, and it quickly became clear that I had missed one of the greatest occasions in Premier League history. The inevitable messages came: “Wow, that must have been amazing!” , “How was that ??” “Real moment you were there!”
Bergwijn seals Tottenham’s impressive comeback (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC / Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Oh, shit.
I fell asleep, cursing this double streak on the test.
Charlie Ecklecher
Manchester City 3-2 Queens Park Rangers, 2012
Wolves were relegated from the Premier League a few weeks ago. A group of boxy contestants won a mediocre bout since December 4th, but we kept going. They fired Mick McCarthy, tried to hire a replacement and ended up with his assistant Terry Connor, but we just kept moving forward. They had Sebastian Basong in defence, but we kept going. Week after week of misery. Masochistic football fans.
The 4-4 draw at Swansea two weeks ago was to blame. In those final agonies of the worst season in living memory we drove to see them lose at Norwich, we saw them lose at Stoke, but 4-4 at Swansea was so much fun we thought it was sloppy. Wigan away on the last day, carefree football, nothing to play for, can be entertaining, let’s just go.
And that was partly fun. A five-goal game (obviously a defeat, 2-3), as well as a somewhat unique post-match trick when a lone wolf fan ran upside down, like a bull, into a crowd of hundreds of invading Wigan fans. I turned and ran away. Any violence in football is repugnant of course, but it has to be seen to be believed.
Anyway, around this time word was passed about the lost finale that Manchester United had won the title. In 2012, fast internet phones, especially on the football field, were in short supply.
We didn’t hear what we had missed until we climbed into the coach to get back to Wolverhampton. Sergio Aguero had scored after 93 minutes 20 seconds, and Manchester City was the champion. “I think it’s the best game I’ve ever seen,” my friend Pete texted me from his living room. “Have you seen him?”
I never answered.
Tim Spires
Manchester United 6-1 Arsenal, 2001
If your father offers you an opportunity to take your brother to watch the Manchester United-Arsenal match, take it.
If you don’t, and you have the careless time a 17-year-old thinks he knows everything, you’ll likely find yourself turning on the TV 20 minutes into the game, realizing at dawn that you’ve probably made a mistake.
Ninety seconds later, the score was 3-1, followed by the fourth, fifth and sixth goal for Manchester United. CONFIRMED – A fundamental mistake has been made, the other two people who know him aren’t the type to point to him with some sympathy.
It is said that you should not regret in life, only lessons learned. I listened to this lesson with grace and humility when I had the opportunity to attend Old Trafford when Arsenal were in town, hoping to make it fifty games unbeaten.
Sam Brown
Swansea 0-1 Southampton, 2018
If you want to remember the relegation encounter, look no further than Southampton’s trip to Swansea in May 2018. Without any exaggeration, this was the most exciting Premier League game ever seen.
Win, you stay. You lose, you are frustrated. Life filled the tournament and as Swansea has proven ever since, it was a treacherous battle to get back.
I got fed up, and couldn’t watch the match. The first and only time ever. For some reason, I decided to go to the gym and turn off my phone. For an hour and a half, I wandered aimlessly, with a constant look of worry. I hardly bothered to work.
Eventually, I headed home and turned on the TV. Mark Hughes was pumping a fist in front of the end of the go and immortal Italian champion Manolo Gabbiadini had Southampton saved. Maybe not the best, but it’s definitely the most important.
Jacob Tanswell
Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan 2005
It’s been half the time. Paolo Maldini scored the opening match and Hernan Crespo scored two goals that made it 3-0. I assumed this was over. After a long tiring day, I decided to sleep rather than watch the second half.
The next morning, I caught Jerzy Dudek holding the Champions League trophy. Do you know that moment when your brain cannot comprehend the information it receives?
The match that I hope not to miss is none other than the 2005 Champions League final. Since this incident, I have not closed a match before the final whistle. Lesson learned.
Ahmed Waleed
(top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
