West Ham’s astonishing late fightback against Tottenham to secure an unlikely 3-3 draw marked another extraordinary moment from what has been a breathless start to the Premier League season.
Manager David Moyes set off on a celebratory dash down the touchline as Manuel Lanzini’s stunning equaliser hit the net, while the rest of us thought ‘what on earth is going on with football this season?’
From the champions being hit for seven to some unbelievable comebacks, the Premier League just continues to provide drama that you would struggle to script.
A total of 171 goals have been scored in the 46 matches so far this season, an average of 3.72 goals per game. It is the best goals per match ratio since 1960-61.
So here’s our run through of the highlights of 2020-21 so far, and your chance to pick your favourite at the bottom.
Liverpool 4-3 Leeds United
Leeds went toe-to-toe with the champions in their first Premier League match for 16 years, shaking off an early goal to lead Liverpool, albeit briefly, and then go close to securing a creditable draw.
But Mohammad Salah broke Leeds’ hearts with a late penalty to complete a hat-trick that sealed a dramatic win. And did we mention four disallowed goals as well?
Southampton 2-5 Tottenham
At half-time, with the score level at 1-1, all was well in the Southampton dressing room – but the Saints were blown away by an electric second-half display from Tottenham and, in particular, Son Heung-min at St Mary’s.
Son scored four times in an incredible performance alongside skipper Harry Kane – who assisted all four before getting a goal for himself – as Spurs eventually thrashed Ralph Hasenhuttl’s hosts 5-2.
Brighton 2-3 Manchester United
It was a game which “defied logic” according to Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who saw his side leave Brighton with all three points courtesy of Bruno Fernandes’ 100th-minute penalty, awarded after the referee had already blown for full-time.
That was the fifth goal and second penalty of an incident-packed match, as well as the second injury-time goal after Solly March’s 95th-minute looked to have earned the hosts a point in a chaotic finale.
West Brom 3-3 Chelsea
A series of defensive errors left Chelsea trailing promoted West Brom 3-0 at half-time at The Hawthorns but Frank Lampard’s side mounted a thrilling second-half comeback to leave with a point.
Mason Mount kick-started the Blues into action after 55 minutes, with Tammy Abraham scoring a dramatic injury-time equaliser to deny the Baggies a first win of the season.
Man City 2-5 Leicester City
The 2016 champions shook off an early goal by former Fox Riyad Mahrez to inflict Pep Guardiola’s heaviest home defeat since he took over at City.
Jamie Vardy bagged a hat-trick himself, and there was another hat-trick of sorts with Leicester scoring from the spot on three occasions – the first time this has ever happened in the Premier League.
Man Utd 1-6 Spurs
Jose Mourinho returned to his former club to inflict the heaviest defeat yet on the man who succeeded him at Old Trafford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were 4-1 behind and a man down at the break following Anthony Martial’s dismissal, and while Jose seemed to take little joy in the result, the Norwegian reflected on what he called “my worst day ever”.
Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool
The reigning champions were put to the sword by a side that seemed destined for relegation until late last season in this, one of the most unbelievable scorelines in Premier League history.
Young striker Ollie Watkins grabbed a first-half hat-trick while Jack Grealish had a hand in five goals – scoring two and assisting three.
Tottenham 3-3 West Ham
Visitors West Ham produced a sensational fightback to earn a point from 3-0 down with eight minutes remaining against Tottenham on Sunday evening.
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs were cruising after three goals in the first 16 minutes, but Manual Lanzini’s superb injury-time strike into the top corner rescued an unlikely point to spoil Gareth Bale’s homecoming appearance.
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Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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