Greatest ever comebacks

10. Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal, Premier League 1999

In terms of one man comebacks, Nwankwo Kanu’s hat-trick in the final 15 minutes, to rescue Arsenal from the brink, is definitely up there. At a rainy Stamford Bridge, Tore Andre Flo gave the home side the lead six minutes before half-time before Dan Petrescu doubled it. With just a quarter of an hour remaining Kanu latched onto a Marc Overmars shot to poke home his first, before beating Ed De Goey at his near post to equalise in the 85th minute.

With the clock reaching injury time and both sets of players seeming content with the draw, Kanu kept plugging away. That persistence was rewarded when he beat De Goey to a ball on the edge of the box and curled a shot, from the cutest of angles, over the heads of two Chelsea defenders and into the corner of the net, to grab all three points for Arsenal.

9. Leeds 4-6 Preston, Championship 2010

The Championship last season produced a classic high-scoring comeback when Leeds and Preston met at Elland Road. In a game that had it all and produced a whopping ten goals, Preston found themselves 4-1 down after just 39 minutes despite taking the lead through Jon Parkin.

Parkin however netted his second just before half-time to give the visitors a glimmer of hope. Keith Treacy made it 4-2 not long after half-time and skipper Callum Davidson equalised just before the hour mark.

Six minutes later Parkin had his hat-trick and Preston now had their noses in front. Things soon got worse for Leeds as Iain Hume made sure of the points in the 79th minute. Leeds were left to contemplate quite how things went so wrong.

8. Charlton 7-6 Huddersfield, Division One 1957

You would think that putting six goals past your opposition would be enough to win any football match, but not for Huddersfield way back in 1957. 

You may be doubting the validity of this because of the lack of video footage, but I assure you it's true. Bill Shankly’s side were leading 5-1 against ten-men Charlton with just 27 minutes remaining. 

Charlton’s Johnny Summers soon added four goals to the one he scored in the first half and set up the other two, with John Ryan completing the turnaround in the 89th minute.

To this day Huddersfield are the only team to score six goals in an English Football League game and still be on the losing side. Never has the old adage of ‘scoring one more than your opponent’ seemed so true.

7. Angola 4-4 Mali, Africa Cup of Nations 2010

Mali fans that made the journey to Angola for the opening game of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations could be forgiven for leaving the game 12 minutes early. At 4-0 down there was surely no way back for one of the pre-tournament favourites but somehow they walked away from this game with a point – that’s four goals in the last 11 minutes. 

Two Seydou Keita goals, one from Frederic Kanoute and an injury-time equaliser by Mustapha Yatabare was enough to both ruin the hosts’ party and spare their own blushes.

6. Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal, Premier League 2011

The throwing away of a 4-0 lead by Arsenal to Newcastle last season was the first time in Premier League history that a club had lost such a lead. Riding high in the league, as well as still being in three cup competitions, including a Carling cup final, the game looked dead and buried at half-time thanks to a 44 second goal from Theo Walcott, a Robin van Persie brace and a Johan Djourou header.

Abou Diaby (before he disappeared off the face of the earth) getting himself sent off didn’t help the Gunners cause but the game still looked beyond Newcastle. Two Joey Barton penalites, either side of a Leon Best goal, however soon left the Magpies in touching distance, with little time remaining.

Cue an 87th minute long-range volley from Cheik Tiote to break Arsenal hearts and set the precedent for the rest of their season, as they went out of each cup completion and slipped to a fourth place finish in the league. 

5. Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich, Champions League Final 1999

Never has a team, and fans alike, been transformed from the feeling of such despair and desperation to the that of sure bliss and ecstasy, in such a short space of time.

Mario Basler gave the Germans the lead early on and, despite hitting the woodwork twice, that was how their lead stayed as the game headed towards stoppage time.

United however had not read the script. A David Beckham corner fell to Ryan Giggs, who’s mis-hit shot landed at the feet of substitute Teddy Sheringham who found the bottom corner. Before Bayern even had time to regroup United had another corner, with Beckham finding the head of Sheringham whose flick-on was finished off by fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

United celebrated their treble to the backdrop of Samuel Kuffour banging the ground in frustration. Sir Alex was for once left nearly speechless, “Football. Bloody hell.”

4. Tottenham 3-4 Manchester City, FA Cup 2004

Another example of classic Spurs before the days of old ‘Arry. Against Manchester opposition, again they led 3-0 at half time. Goals from Ledley King, Robbie Keane and a Christian Ziege free-kick were surely enough to book their place in the next round of the FA Cup.

City’s Joey Barton did his team no further favours by getting himself sent off. They did however find the strength from somewhere to pull goals back thanks to Sylvain Distin, Paul Bosvelt and the rather offside-looking Shaun Wright-Phillips, who lifted the ball over Kasey Keller to equalise.

With the game heading for extra-time Jon Macken headed past Keller to complete the comeback. An all too familiar feeling for the jeering Spurs fans and they couldn’t even use the excuse of having lost to a team full of big money signings back then.

3. Tottenham 3-5 Man United, Premier League 2001

Back in the days when Spurs’ best chance of European football was through the fair-play league and Manchester United didn’t have to worry about their noisy neighbours, the pair produced this classic.

Eight million pound man Dean Richards made a dream start to life at White Hart Line, opening the scoring on his debut. Les Ferdinand and Christian Ziege compounded further misery on Sir Alex’s men, making it 3-0 before half-time.

This however was when Spurs were a load of rubbish and so in the second-half they allowed a rejuvenated United to thump five past them. Andy Cole and Laurent Blanc pulled two back, before Ruud van Nistelrooy equalised. Juan Sebastien Veron hit the winner, before David Beckham added insult to injury by scoring the fifth. 

2. Portugal Under 17's 5-5 Cameroon Under 17's, FIFA Under 17 World Cup 2003

As far as U-17 World Cup matches go, in terms of excitement, this one will struggle to be beaten. An unbelievable comeback by the Indomitable Lions, yet it still proved a case of too little too late. 

The Portuguese, needing just a point to qualify for the quarter-finals, led 4-0 at half-time, with Manuel Curto having scored a hat-trick as well as Vieirinha scoring from his own half.

It was soon 5-0 after 52 minutes and that was how it stayed with just 20 minutes remaining. Six minutes later it was 5-3, before Joel Nguemo pulled another back with two minutes left on the clock. Etoundi Mbia then volleyed in the equaliser in stoppage time. Needing just one more goal to qualify at their opponent’s expense, they still found time for one more opportunity, only to watch their effort bounce back off the bar.

After all that effort you think they could have managed just one more goal. 

1. Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan, Champions League Final 2005

It doesn’t get too much bigger than the Champions League final and where better to perform surely the greatest comeback of them all?

If conceding a goal in the first minute was the worst start possible for Liverpool then things were to get disasterous, heading into the changing rooms 3-0 down at half-time.

The story goes that the odd Liverpool fan ripped up their ticket, chucked their scarf to the ground and headed home at this point – they surely will not make a worse decision for the rest of their lives.

Three goals in the space of just seven minutes levelled things for Liverpool and when Djimi Traore clears a shot off the line, instead of bundling it in, you know luck is on your side.

Keeper Jerzy Dudek took it upon himself to be the hero with a miraculous double-save from Andriy Shevchenko in the dying minutes of extra-time, before denying the Ukrainian again in the penalty shoot-out, with his ‘spaghetti legs’, to win the trophy for Liverpool.

Dudek’s reward for making history – to watch new signing Pepe Reina take his no. 1 spot the following season. 

Get McClean on the plane to Poland and Ukraine

Giovanni Trapattoni has announced his Republic of Ireland squad for their upcoming friendly with Czech Republic and unbelievably James McClean, one of their most exciting young prospects for years, has been left out.

McClean’s choice to represent the Republic over Northern Ireland surely paved the way for Trapattoni to pick the in-form Sunderland player who has found the net four times since December for Martin O’Neill’s resurgent side, including against Arsenal on Saturday.

However, Trapattoni has backed his old guard for the clash at the Aviva Stadium on February 29 after already saying the players who helped Ireland qualify for Euro 2012 deserve to go to the finals.

Frankly, that’s a ridiculous stance to take. Surely the next England manager won’t ignore late surges from the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain?

Trapattoni’s team face a testing time at Euro 2012 against Spain, Italy and Croatia, and to make the quarter-finals will likely require a Herculean effort. A raw talent like McClean could be the secret weapon Ireland need.

What if McClean continues to have a stormer for the rest of the season? Then will the Italian take notice? The Sunderland man has to be in the next squad and more importantly on the plane in the summer even if it is at the expense of someone like Keith Andrews, as hard as that may seem for Trapattoni.

Once mighty Sven has fallen so far

With the furore surrounding the England manager’s job all over the newspapers last week, another story passed by relatively unnoticed. Ironically it was about a man who once used to call himself the England manager.

Sven-Goran Eriksson, according to Leeds chairman Ken Bates, applied for the current vacancy at Elland Road only to receive an instant flat-out rejection. This in itself speaks volumes for how the once mighty Swede has fallen. 

Formerly one of the most coveted managers in the world, the former England boss has only been able to stand back and watch his career take a drastic slide to near oblivion since he left ‘the hardest job in football’ back in 2006.

Uninspiring, disappointing and all too brief spells at Manchester City, Mexico, Ivory Coast and Leicester City say it all. Throw a strange few months as Director of Football at Notts County into the mix and you’ve got a very depressing few years for a man with 17 major trophies to his name. 

That the unemployed Swede was one of the first to put himself forward for the Leeds job suggests he now sees himself as a Championship-level manager. That he was turned down is purely an embarrassment, especially when Bates gives the reasoning as wanting the next appointment to be “the big one”. 

Evidently Sven’s career is all but dead and buried. Who knows, perhaps in a few years Fabio Capello will be getting told where to go by Barnsley?

Sanchez not detered by underdogs label as he seeks a return to Wembley with Barnet

In tonight’s Johnstone Paint trophy southern area final second leg against Swindon, Barnet are definitely considered the underdogs.

Under the guidance of Paolo di Canio, Swindon currently lie second in League Two and are playing some of the best football in the division. They also take an away goal back to the Country Ground tonight after the 1-1 draw in the first leg at Underhill. If that’s not enough to suggest they are favourites to reach Wembley then just a quick glance at the last time the two sides met at the County Ground this season will show you that Swindon trounced the Bees 4-0.

However this massive game comes at just the right time for Sanchez’s side as they currently find themselves on a five match unbeaten run, including four consecutive victories in the league. This recent fine vein of form has lifted Barnet from out of the doldrums of the relegation zone, that they so often seem to find themselves attracted to, and up to 17th place, nine points clear from danger, with two games in hand over 23rd placed Plymouth. 

For a team that usually dice with death every season, and not too long ago were purveyors of unglamorous non-league football, this run has come at a much needed time for them, and is one that brings uncertainty as to where they will be playing there football next season, after being told they cannot play at Underhill, their home for nearly 105 years. 

With a trip to Wembley as the prize there is no reason why Sanchez’s men can’t translate their league form into tonight’s game and set up a final with Chesterfield. Having already claimed the scalp of Portsmouth at Fratton Park in the Carling cup earlier this season, as well as boasting League Two’s top scorer in Izale McLeod, Barnet will fancy their chances.

If they make it to Wembley it will surely be one of the biggest games in the club’s history. Sanchez has overcome adversity as the underdog before in his playing career and he would like nothing more than to share some of that Wembley success he had as a player with his team. Just 90 minutes stand in way of a chance to make history.

Henry leaves on a high, no matter what

As Thierry Henry put the icing on the cake to Arsenal’s 7-1 desolation of Blackburn with the final goal on Saturday, a sense of relief was felt all around the Emirates. A feeling that the goal will help to paper over the cracks of the deficiencies in Arsene Wenger's flagship January signing.

After his (second) debut heroics against Leeds last month started things off for the Frenchman so perfectly, that fully-charged momentum hasn’t exactly kept up the same pace since. 

Mark Lawrenson’s prediction that he would struggle to score again in his two month spell seemed to be bearing some sort of fruit after the fairly ineffectual performances against the likes of Swansea and Bolton. 

While his footballing brain, which could teach Theo Walcott a thing or two, still works as well as it ever did, it is safe to say his pace, fitness and, at times, his first touch are not quite what they used to be. 

After five minutes of being on the pitch the heavy puffing begins and his arms form a position on his hips that Tony Adams in his prime would have been proud of.

With Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh leaving for the African Cup of Nations last month, Andrey Arshavin’s lack of form and complete disinterest, and Arsene Wenger’s total lack of mistrust for Chu Young Park, Henry was the man brought in to help ease the load. It seemed like the perfect answer. In hindsight maybe it was a touch of the head up in the clouds syndrome. 

If Henry has not been the exact remedy needed then thank God for the emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as his introduction at just the right time has meant it has not really mattered. He looks an immense talent and with his rise to prominence, Wenger can now keep Henry safe on the bench ready for the odd cameo.

His goal on Saturday may have looked a little different had it fallen to the Henry of old - the space he found himself in would have been utilised to perfection by his pace. 

However Saturday’s goal was the Henry of new, a nice bit of link-up play whilst still having the huge slice of luck from a big deflection to drop into the back of the net. 

But it doesn’t matter anyhow as he is Thierry Henry. His goal against Leeds will forever stay in Arsenal hearts and for many that alone has justified the move. He can do no wrong and Arsenal fans love him all the same whatever he does. 

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