“The Saturday before last, Clyde were winning 3-0 at The Spartans after an hour when Logan Dunachie was sent off. Twenty-eight minutes later, the score was 3-3. What is the biggest turnaround in a game following a red card/most quantitative blame that can be thrown at a player for getting sent off?” asks Jamie Wills.
At Knowledge Towers, we usually receive questions about the greatest comebacks with 10 men. We covered that in 2021, so it’s a nice change to look at teams who went to seed after having a player sent off.
Before we get to the meat of the question, a quick detour to cover some teams who were already losing and then fell apart completely after losing a player. There are examples dotted throughout the Premier League era. At the Etihad in 2017-18, Liverpool were a goal down to Manchester City when Sadio Mané was sent off in the 37th minute for a high challenge on Ederson. They lost 5-0.
Two seasons later, Southampton were 1-0 down at home to Leicester when Ryan Bertrand was sent off in the 12th minute. They were eventually humiliated 9-0. VVV-Venlo went one worse against Ajax the following season. They were 4-0 down at home when Christian Kum was sent off in the 52nd minute. By the hour mark it was 8-0; Ajax eventually won 13-0.
In the same season, 2020-21, Southampton lost another Premier League game 9-0, this time to Manchester United at Old Trafford. The score was goalless when the Swiss midfielder Alexandre Jankewitz walked in the second minute. Opta doesn’t keep records of how much eye contact Jankewitz made with his teammates over the next few days, but we imagine it wasn’t much.
The most costly red cards, literally and figuratively, are those that precipitate a team losing a lead. Zdenek Zeman’s joyfully reckless Foggia were 4-1 up at Atalanta during the 1991-92 Serie A season when Dan Petrescu was given a second yellow card in the 72nd minute. Chaos ensued, Atalanta’s Carlo Cornacchia scored a 14-minute hat-trick and the match finished 4-4.
An even more dramatic 4-4 draw took place in the Premier League 15 years ago. “While there might be bigger turnarounds, my thoughts immediately went to Newcastle v Arsenal at St James’ Park in 2010-11,” writes Rein. “I had just moved to the city and being Dutch, this game really hit home the highs and lows of supporting the Toon and tied me to the club. And that Cheick Tioté goal ….”
We’re sure you remember the game, but if not, here’s a quick precis. Arsenal strolled to a 4-0 half-time lead, then things started to change when Abou Diaby was sent off in the 50th minute for manhandling Joey Barton. Arsenal collapsed in the final quarter of the game. Barton scored twice, Leon Best chipped in with another – and then, in the 87th minute, the late Tioté volleyed a glorious equaliser.
At least Arsenal took a point back to London. Venezia had no such solace after the Derby del Veneto in December 2021. They were 3-1 up at home to Verona in Serie A when Pietro Ceccaroni was sent off in the 62nd minute for handling on the goalline. Gianluca Caprari scored the resulting penalty before Giovanni Simeone struck twice to give Verona a famous win.
And finally, we shouldn’t forget Emmanuel Adebayor’s scene-stealing cameo on his return to the Emirates in November 2012. He gave Spurs an early lead before being given a straight red card in the 17th minute for a dangerous challenge on Santi Cazorla. Arsenal, who had beaten Spurs 5-2 at the Emirates earlier in the year, enjoyed a bit of deja 5-2.
The million dollar question
“Are Liverpool the first club to have three £100m+ players on their books? And which clubs were first to have three £10m+ and three £1m+ players?” wonders Owen Powell.
It’s tricky to answer this question definitively, mainly because reported transfer fees can vary wildly. With that caveat, these are the best answers we could find – if you can find earlier examples, send them to knowledge@theguardian.com. Turns out Real Madrid aren’t the only Spanish club partial to a galactico or three.
£1m: Nottingham Forest (1981)
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Trevor Francis (Birmingham City, 1979)
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Ian Wallace (Coventry City, 1980)
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Justin Fashanu (Norwich City, 1981)
Fashanu joined Forest in August 1981, precipitating the sale of Francis to Manchester City a few weeks later. He became City’s third £1m+ player after Steve Daley and Kevin Reeves. Francis, Wallace and Fashanu were on Forest’s books together for a few weeks.
£10m: Lazio (1998)
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Marcelo Salas (River Plate, 1998)
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Christian Vieri (Atletico Madrid, 1998)
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Ivan de la Pena (Barcelona, 1998)
We think Barcelona were the first team to sign three players for £10m or more – Ronaldo in 1996, Sonny Anderson and Rivaldo in 1997 – but they weren’t on the books at the same time.
£100m: Barcelona (2019)
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Ousmane Dembélé (Borussia Dortmund, 2017)
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Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool, 2018)
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Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid, 2019)
Dembélé joined Barcelona for a reported fee of £96.8m, potentially rising to £135.5m with add-ons. We’re quietly confident they paid at least £3.2m in add-ons. The first club to sign three players for an upfront fee of £100m+ appears to be Chelsea: Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo and Morgan Rogers. They were briefly on the same wage bill this summer until Fernández moved to Manchester City.
Trophy-laden players (part two)
Last week, we looked at whether any footballer has won more trophies than Marquinhos (41 and counting). Our answer at the time was no. Since then, we’ve had a few follow-ups in our inbox putting forward the name of Gibraltar legend Lee Casciaro.
Given that the question did not specify whether the trophies needed to have been won in a major league, we should mention Casciaro’s honours. Here’s Sean DeLoughry with the details. “According to Wikipedia (so there’s a 3% chance it’s accurate) Gibraltar’s Lee Casciaro won 23 league titles, 15 Rock Cups, 13 Pepe Reyes Cups and 11 Gibraltar Premier Cups with Lincoln Red Imps for a total of 62 trophies.” Even if Wiki’s a little bit out, Casciaro’s trophy haul is still going to be heavier than that of Marquinhos. He isn’t a full-time professional, however, working as a police officer alomgside his football career, so maybe that counts againt him. Sean points us in the direction of Linfield’s Noel Bailie, another former semi-pro, as a member of the 40-trophy club, winning all his silverware during 22 years with the Blues.
Knowledge archive
“Against Wolves this week, West Ham’s Konstantinos Mavropanos scored a goal and then, just five minutes later, scored an own goal. Either way round, what’s the fastest such an unlikely double has been achieved?” wonders Sam Coare.
We had this question in 2022, when Ajax’s Sébastien Haller scored at both ends in the space of four minutes. Here’s what we said back then:
There are many members of the “scored at both ends” club but finding a player who has done it quicker than the Ajax striker did is tricky. Robert Davies wrote in with a player who matched Haller’s three minutes, but we can’t confirm whether he was faster or slower. Either way, it was an eventful match for Walsall’s Conor Wilkinson in the 3-3 draw with Newport on 1 January this year. Here’s the rundown:
52 min: Came on as sub
53 min: Scored with first touch
56 min: Scored own goal
90+5min: Scored equaliser
We also remember Troy Deeney going from hero to villain within three minutes when he equalised for Watford against Manchester United in the 87th minute in November 2015, before putting through his own net in the 90th. And a doff of the cap to Tammy Abraham, who scored a hat-trick for Chelsea before adding an own goal 14 minutes later during their 5-2 win over Wolves in 2019.
Can you help?
“In their draw at Forest, Spurs managed an xG of 1.6 despite not having a single shot on target,” writes Chris. “What is the highest single-game xG a team has achieved without ever putting one on frame?”
“When did fans wearing replica kits become a thing?” asks Alex Ecob. “Older footage shows people in regular clothes and a few scarves/flags in the team colours. What kickstarted the trend? Did one club get there first?”
“From 2007-08 to 2017-18, Newcastle United’s player of the year award was won by nine defenders and two goalkeepers,” begins Matt Cowan. “From 2002-03 to 2018-19, no forward won the award. Has any club had a longer streak without a forward or midfielder winning the award?”
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