It’s no secret that there comes a time in every football team’s season that they have to lose, but the worst kind of defeats are humiliating ones, especially if they come in your own backyard.
Football brings with it a sense of pride and there is nothing more devastating when the floodgates open and a flurry of goals begin to go past the particular team in question.
There have been a number of mortifying results but here the SportPesa blog looks at the top five most embarrassing defeats in EPL history.
CHELSEA 8 – 0 WIGAN (MAY 9, 2010)
Carlo Ancelotti’s charges knew that this was a very important day as the title race went into the final day of the season.
The Blues needed to beat Wigan if they were to secure their first league title since 2006 and a Didier Drogba hat-trick inspired an 8-0 demolition of the Tics.
Nicolas Anelka added a brace, now-manager Frank Lampard got his name on the scoresheet as Solomon Kalou and Ashley Cole bagged the other goals.
The result meant that Chelsea finished a point above Manchester United to be crowned EPL champions.
TOTTENHAM 9 – 1 WIGAN (NOVEMBER 22, 2009)
Wigan seem to be unfortunate when it comes to heaviest EPL defeats as they feature once more at the hands of yet another London Club, Tottenham Hotspur FC, who incredibly led only 1-0 at halftime.
Another record was matched in this game as Jermaine Defoe became only the third player to score 5 goals in a single premier league match, after Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.
Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar also scored on the day, with Austrian international Paul Scharner’s reply for Wigan proving too little of a consolation.
MANCHESTER CITY 8 – 0 WATFORD (SEPTEMBER 21, 2019)
Man City responded in astounding fashion to a shock defeat to Norwich by battering Watford 8-0 at the Etihad to cut Liverpool’s lead at the top to just two points.
Pep Guardiola’s side scored 5 goals in the opening 18 minutes, setting the record for the fastest any side has scored that many goals in the competition’s history.
City scored the opener after 52 seconds through David Silva before Sergio Aguero added a penalty and Riyad Mahrez struck via a deflection.
Bernardo Silva headed the fourth and Nicolas Otamendi slid in the fifth. After the break City’s intensity eased but Bernardo Silva struck twice more and Kevin de Bruyne slammed in the eighth.
MANCHESTER UNITED 9 – 1 IPSWICH TOWN (MARCH 4, 1995)
Man United had broken the English transfer record to sign Andy Cole for £6m in January, and the forward began to justify his price tag with a sensational display.
The England forward became the first player to score 5 goals in a premier league game.
A brace from Mark Hughes, Roy Keane and a Paul Ince goal in the 72nd minute completed a ruthless performance for the red devils.
United would end up being pipped to the title by just a single point, with Blackburn Rovers being crowned champions on the final day of the season.
Ipswich finished bottom of the division, having conceded a league high 93 goals.
LEICESTER CITY 9 – 0 SOUTHAMPTON (OCTOBER 25, 2019)
Leicester City equalled the 24-year-old record for the biggest ever Premier League victory as 10-man Southampton were pummeled 8-0 at St. Mary’s.
Ryan Bertrand was sent off in the 12th minute, right after Ben Chilwell had put the foxes 1-0 up.
After that it was downhill for them as Youri Tielemans made it 2-0 five minutes later before Ayoze Perez bagged the first of his hat-trick in the 19th minute.
Perez scored his second in the 39th and Jamie Vardy scored on the stroke of halftime to give them a resounding 5-0 lead at the break.
Another from Perez, two more from Vardy and a late James Madisson strike completed the rout on a day that every Saint would want to forget.
Leicester became only the second team in Premier League history to establish a five-goal lead in the first half of an away game in the competition, after Manchester City against Burnley in April 2010 (also 5-0)