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The Six Premier League Matches That Hit Double Digits

If there’s one thing the Premier League has brought fans over the years, it’s plenty of excitement and goals. Whether it’s one team dishing out a drubbing for a hapless rival or results that ended up looking more like tennis scores, to date, there are only six matches that have ended in double figures.

While nine goals have been scored on nineteen occasions, double-digit scores have proven far more elusive since the inaugural 1992-1993 Premier League campaign. Even more remarkable, those results all came within the space of seven seasons, with two of them coming within just a few months and featuring one particularly unfortunate team.

Portsmouth 7-4 Reading

It remains the highest scoring Premier League game of all time and, for anyone at Fratton Park that day, it will remain a truly unforgettable encounter. On 29th September 2007, early into what would become a memorable FA Cup winning campaign for Portsmouth with Harry Redknapp at the helm, they were in rampant form against Reading.

By setting this record, both teams certainly left their mark amongst the English elite, fortunes are very different for the two clubs these days. Reading have struggled in the Championship over the last couple of seasons, while that superb 2007-08 season seems like a lifetime ago for Portsmouth, who were tipped in betting markets as one of the main contenders to win promotion from League One prior to the suspension of the league.

Tottenham Hotspur 6-4 Reading

Poor old Reading. Just three months after being on the wrong end of that 11-goal thriller at Portsmouth, they were losing participants in another double-digit result in December of 2007. It could have been the score of a tennis game, yet the Royals were far from regal in defeat away at White Hart Lane.

What’s even more remarkable about this game is that Reading took the lead three times, although they simply had no answer for the attacking potency of Spurs on the day, as Dimitar Berbatov struck four goals for Spurs. “It was great entertainment, if you’re impartial,” lamented Reading boss Steve Coppell, far from happy with how his team had defended.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic

While they have recorded bigger wins and participated in higher scoring games throughout their history, Spurs achieved their record win of the Premier League era on 22nd November 2009. The unfortunate victims on this occasion were Wigan Athletic, who suffered an utter collapse in the second half.

Peter Crouch had given Tottenham an early lead, although Wigan had managed to offer stiff defensive resistance for the remainder of the first half. Nevertheless, they had no response for an inspired display by Jermain Defoe, who scored five goals in the second half. Paul Scharner did pull one back for the Latics before Aaron Lennon, David Bentley, and Nico Kranjcar completed the rout.

Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal

There have certainly been plenty of fascinating encounters between Manchester United and Arsenal over the years, especially during the Premier League era, which fuelled a passionate managerial rivalry between Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson. Still, none of their duels ended up quite as one-sided as this early season romp at Old Trafford in August 2011.

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In fairness to the Gunners, their side had been severely depleted by injuries and suspensions, leaving Wenger struggling for options. Meanwhile, Ferguson had a full-strength squad to choose from, including an embarrassment of riches on the substitutes bench.

Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle United

The Gunners had already enjoyed some big wins early in the 2012-13 campaign, including the 6-1 drubbing of Southampton, 5-2 derby demolition of Tottenham, plus a 2-5 romp away at Reading. When they hosted an awful Newcastle United side managed by Alan Pardew at the Emirates, there seemed only one likely outcome.

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Although the Gunners had struggled to keep clean sheets, they certainly didn’t have any problems scoring goals. On the day, no player was better than Theo Walcott, who was arguably in the midst of his best season wearing an Arsenal shirt. He scored a memorable hat-trick and provided two assists, rounding off an excellent individual performance.

West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United

How often do you see ten goals scored in a game, yet neither side claim victory? Well, it certainly doesn’t happen very often, and on this occasion, it was the 1,500th and final game for Alex Ferguson in charge of Manchester United. Given that the Red Devils had already secured the title, this end of season encounter was all about entertainment.

West Brom were comfortably assured 8th position in the Premier League, so the game was little more than a dead rubber, although try telling that to both sets of players. There’s also the anecdote that Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick for the Baggies, who had been 3-0 and 5-2 down at different points in the game. No game in the Premier League has produced 10 goals or more since.

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