FootybrainOn Sunday, Sampdoria lost 5-1 at home to Fiorentina. Curiously, it was their second 5-1 defeat in less than a month, having also won 5-1 earlier in 2020. So that is three 5-1 games featuring Sampdoria less than two months into the new decade. Yet, since the turn of the century Sampdoria have only been involved in six 5-1 matches in Serie A, and they don’t have the best record from those games… […]
Graham Taylor – more successful than all of Watford’s other managers combined
This Saturday, in memory of their most successful manager, Watford are hosting the now annual Graham Taylor Matchday between themselves and Real Sociedad. Graham Taylor sadly passed away in January 2017 aged 72, but in Watford, he has left behind a legacy. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, along with the backing of then chairman Elton John, Taylor led the small Hertfordshire side from the Fourth Division to the First Division in just five seasons. Indeed, Taylor has been the man behind five Hornets promotions in his three spells at the club, with Watford only recording nine Football League promotions in the entire history, since being admitted to the Third Division almost a century ago. […]
Sunderland – the end of a decade in the top flight
John Terry stole all of the headlines in Chelsea’s 5-1 win over Sunderland today, as the champion’s captain departed the pitch, and his Chelsea career, in controversial circumstances midway through the first half. Terry is the Premier League’s most successful player to not play for Manchester United, after he won his fifth winners medal this month. However, the match had much more statistical significance, with Chelsea claiming a record 30th Premier League win in the game, and being the last match of Sunderland’s decade long top flight spell – their longest since being elected to the Football League First Division in 1890 and remaining there for 68 years. […]
Cristiano Ronaldo breaks Jimmy Greaves European league goalscoring record
Cristiano Ronaldo has broken Jimmy Greaves’ all time record for the most amount of goals in Europe’s top five leagues. Ronaldo’s two goals in Real Madrid’s 4-1 win at Celta Vigo yesterday, push him ahead of Greaves onto 368 goals. Impressively, Ronaldo has achieved his tally in 68 games fewer than Greaves, taking just 460 matches, compared to Greaves’ 528. […]
Billy Sharp’s League One double deja-vu, a decade on
2016/17: Billy Sharp is League One top scorer, with 30 goals, for champions Sheffield United.
2006/07: Billy Sharp is League One top scorer, with 30 goals, for champions Scunthorpe United. […]
Harry Kane’s treble twenty goal milestone
Harry Kane has become the first Tottenham Hotspur player to net 20 league goals in three consecutive seasons since Jimmy Greaves in the late 1960s. Kane scored a solitary goal in today’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth, which took Spurs’ top scorer to 20 Premier League (PL) goals for the season. The goal, scored in the opening minutes of the second half, comes after being stuck for six weeks on 19 goals, following injury. […]
Romelu Lukaku ends thirty year drought for twenty league goal Toffee
Romelu Lukaku’s two stoppage time goals in today’s 4-0 win over Hull City, took his tally of Premier League goals to 21 for the season, and in doing so became the first Everton player since Gary Lineker in 1986 to rack up 20 league goals. Lineker actually managed 30 league goals in his sole season on Merseyside (1985/86), before joining Barcelona, and is the last Evertonian to win the golden boot, a prize Lukaku heads this season by two goals from the currently injured Tottenham striker Harry Kane. […]
Harry Kane nets 25th Premier League first half hat-trick
Harry Kane’s first half hat-trick for Tottenham Hotspur against Stoke City this afternoon was the 25th first half treble in the Premier League, and the first by a Tottenham player. This is Kane’s fourth Premier League hat-trick, but the earliest he has completed one, with the England striker sealing the match ball by the 37th minute of today’s game. […]
Manchester United reach two Premier League milestones against Watford
Manchester United became the first side to reach 2000 Premier League points, and also +1000 Premier League goal difference in their 2-0 win over Watford on Saturday. Juan Mata’s 32nd minute opener put United on +1000 goal difference and set them on course to claim the three points required to rack up the two-tonne points tally. […]