by “Celtic lost 6-0 to Atlético Madrid this month. To make amends, Celtic beat Aberdeen by the same score in the next match. Does any other team have a higher symmetrical score in consecutive games? Billy asks.
Let’s start with an excellent example from Christmas 1960, as highlighted by Clive Denny, when charlton and plymouth produced symmetric markers against each other in the space of 24 hours.
• December 26 Charlton 6-4 Plymouth
• December 27 Plymouth 6-4 Charlton
Chris Baynes sends his memory of two classics Liverpool Matches from April 2009, when Rafa Benítez’s team began to lose steam after a brilliant season:
• April 14th Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool, Champions League quarter-finals (agg: 7-5)
“Liverpool were losing 3-1 from the first leg. No Steven Gerrard. Fabio Aurelio assaults Petr Cech. Penalty for Xabi Alonso. ‘Surely we can’t?’ First class Fernando Torres with a red shirt. Seven minutes from another semi. Craziness.”
• April, the 21st Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal, Premier League
“In the days when Liverpool getting to the top could still be a bad result. A proverbial ding-dong. Kop breathing fire. Fernando Torres does it again. Arsenal counterattack. Andrei Arshavin. Yes, Arshavin. He scored all four of Arsenal’s goals, and although Liverpool equalized in injury time to go top of the league on goal difference, eventual champions Manchester United had two games in hand. They didn’t waste them.
Finally, an unusual (and very symmetrical) story from Estonia:
“Levadia Tallinn “We have scored one goal better than Celtic and have also achieved symmetrical results in consecutive Champions League games, as well as in consecutive games in 2014,” writes Tom Wright.
• July 8 Levadia Tallinn 7-0 La Fiorita (Champions League qualification)
• 12th of July Levadia Tallinn 7-0 Trans Narva (Estonian league match)
• July 15 Sparta Prague 7-0 Levadia Tallinn (Champions League qualification)
More teams relegated from the Champions League
In last week’s Knowledge, we looked at teams that played in the European Cup/Champions League and were relegated in the same season. Sean DeLoughry has very generously filled in the many gaps in our knowledge…
“The list would not be complete without Herfolge“, he writes. “They were promoted in 1999, won their only Danish league title in 2000 and relegated in 2001. During the 2001 relegation season they lost 3-0 home and away to Rangers in the Champions League qualifiers. The Danish champions of 1973 Hvidore They crashed out of the 1974-75 European Cup, losing to Polish champions Ruch Chorzow before being dropped from the Danish top flight in 1974.
“hakaThe impressive up-and-down efforts in the mid-1990s mentioned last week didn’t actually include a Champions League stay. For several seasons, the Champions League was restricted to Europe’s top 24 leagues, with lower-ranked champions banished to the UEFA Cup, so Haka exited the UEFA Cup during their relegation season as champions. . Surprisingly, it was the second consecutive season in which the Finnish champions were relegated. The 1994 champions, POS Tampere, They were relegated in 1995 and were eliminated from the 1995-96 UEFA Cup in the preliminary round.
“In 1967-68 FC Nuremberg won his ninth (and last) German title. They lost 5-1 on aggregate to Ajax in the 1968-69 European Cup before being eliminated from the Bundesliga.
“Rabat Ajax They won consecutive Maltese titles in 1984-85-86, but were relegated in 1987. During the relegation season they lost 10-0 to Porto on aggregate in the first round of the European Cup. His overall record in Europe is P8, L8, F0, A40. The Swedish champions of 1969, Djurgardens, At the end of 1970 they were eliminated from the European Cup and the Allsvenskan.
“One of the most spectacular spirals was that of barry city. Everything looked rosy when they won a seventh Welsh League title in eight seasons in 2002-03, but the price of funding a professional team proved ruinous and they went into administration in 2003. They put together an amateur team that won a qualification match for the Champions League. against Vardar Skopje, but lost on aggregate, although it was going to be a long and hard season. “Barry won just three of 32 league games to finish bottom, and only one team was relegated as the league was restructured.”
Shorter-term new manager bounce?
“Bradford City presented its new coach Graham Alexander on November 11 and precisely 26 seconds passed before their opponent Barrow scored. I’m sure there is a worse example of a new coach’s lack of rebounding, but can any new coach overcome a conceded goal faster? asks James Mackenzie.
“My team, Dundee United, introduced legendary player Billy Kirkwood as the new coach in 1995,” writes Alan Christine. “The Rangers scored 12 seconds in his first game.” When Rangers went 2-0 up in the eighth minute, Dundee United were facing a rout from the new manager, but that was the end of the score. Kirkwood is one second ahead of Enrique Martín from Córdoba, as detailed here.”
Another perfect, perfect hat-trick
We also looked at Anglo-German hat-tricks in last week’s Knowledge, and only Erling Haaland met the strictest criteria. But now he has a new strike partner…
“leon clark scored an uninterrupted hat-trick between the 53rd and 80th minutes for Sheffield United in their 4-1 win over Hull City on 4 November 2017,” writes John Guest. “He scored with his left foot, his right foot and his head, in that order. He then scored a fourth goal with his left foot, but time ran out before he could complete the second round.”
Knowledge Archive
“James Forrest recently scored for the 15th consecutive season”. wrote Steven Coyle. “A quick Google confirmed that Ryan Giggs was 23. Any more examples at the top level?”
We looked at this question in 2009, when Rosenborg legend Roar Strand scored for the 20th consecutive season in the top flight. This is what we wrote at the time:
This weekend Ryan Giggs equaled Strand’s epic achievement. The Welshman’s first league goal came in the Manchester derby in May of the 1990-91 season and his free-kick against Spurs on Saturday night means he has scored in 20 consecutive top-flight seasons. Paul Scholes, for comparison (and he has yet to score this season) has found the net in just 15 consecutive seasons.
Of the single-club men, Giggs and Strand appear to be the pacesetters, but a few can better or match their achievements with multiple clubs. Paul Lovatt suggests Roberto Dinamite of Vasco da Gama, who “scored 186 goals in 20 championships played for Vasco da Gama, from Rio de Janeiro, and one for Portuguesa, from São Paulo” between 1971 and 1990, according to this translated site in a somewhat uncomfortable way. .
And Paul Haynes is out to dampen Giggs and Strand’s celebrations. “It’s certainly not a record,” he begins sternly. “Romário, for example, scored every season between 1985 and 2007 (23 overlapping seasons) and Pelé scored in every season between 1957 and 1977 (21 seasons), while Puskás scored in the 22 seasons he played football (although he was suspended from the football for two). years during this period).
• 2023 Update: Looks like Giggs and RomtoRio tops the list with 23, unless someone can do better.
Can you help?
“Arsenal’s Jorginho has missed four penalties in a row while playing for Italy. Has any player missed more consecutive penalties, whether for club or country?” asks Bogdan Kotarlic.
“Spurs have conceded two goals in second-half stoppage time in their last two games. Has this happened before?” asks Jeremy Cartwright.
“After 15 matches, Hornchurch lead the Isthmian League First Division with a goal difference of +34. The second place team, Enfield, is +11. Has there ever been a bigger difference this late in the season? asks Jack Hart.
What are the “biggest” international competitive club matches that have never happened? That is, the teams have never faced each other competitively.
-David Mills (@DavidMills73) November 15, 2023
“Stevenage had three substitutes with the same surname, Thompson, on his bench on Saturday. Is this a record? asks Chris Hooper.
We all know situations where substitutes are substituted (player A is replaced by player B, who is then replaced by player C), but are there examples of longer chains where player C is replaced by player D, player D is replaced? replaced by player E, and player E is replaced by player F?
-Doremus Schafer (@DoremusSchafer) November 21, 2023
“Which player has scored the most goals against a single goalkeeper?” asks John Ruddock.
@ElConocimiento_GU On Saturday, Stockport County will be looking for their 13th consecutive league win. What is the record for consecutive wins in English men’s football?
-David Longson (@DaveLon) November 15, 2023
“The recent Chelsea-Manchester City match had eight goals, each of which changed who was leading the game (equalizing is a change). What is the most important outcome for which this is true? That match also had different teams ahead on three occasions: City 1-0, Chelsea 2-1, then City again 3-2 and 4-3. What is the most such lead exchanges in a game? asks Dave Mellinger.
Which club has had the shortest trophy drought in its history?
-David Taylor (@DTWiz1982) November 21, 2023
Send us your questions or tweet @ElConocimiento_GU.
