Football

06/10/2009 - 10:00

Top 100: Greatest matches 60-51

Eurosport

Our daily countdown of the best matches ever played continues with a Ronaldo masterclass for Real Madrid at Old Trafford.

51. Champions League 2003 - Manchester United 4-3 Real Madrid (5-6 aggregate)

This game is rightly remembered as one of Ronaldo's finest moments. Forget the scoreline - Real outclassed United over both legs of this quarter-final tie. Leading 3-1 from the first leg in the Bernabeu, the Galacticos virtually finished the tie in the 12th minute when Guti found Ronaldo, who smashed a low shot inside Fabien Barthez's near post. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his 39th goal of the season just before the break, but Ronaldo restored Real's cushion with a close-range finish after the visitors sliced through United just after the break. An Ivan Helguera own-goal made it 2-2, but Ronaldo completed his hat-trick with a stunning 25-yarder, before departing the Old Trafford pitch to a standing ovation from the United fans. David Beckham, controversially dropped, came off the bench to score a free-kick and a tap-in but it was too little, too late. Months later Beckham was a Real player, and United replaced him with one Cristiano Ronaldo.

52. Premier League 1994 - Everton 3-2 Wimbledon

Let us take you back to a time when Wimbledon were an established top-flight side - finishing sixth in 1993/94 - and Everton were scrapping desperately against relegation. The Toffees needed a win at Goodison Park on the final day to preserve their Premier League status and suffered the worst possible start when Anders Limpar handballed in the third minute and Dean Holdsworth scored from the penalty spot to put Wimbledon in front. On 20 it was two, as Dave Watson and David Unsworth collided and Gary Ablett sliced a wild clearance into his own net. Everton got a foothold in the game when Limpar won a questionable penalty and Graham Stuart scored to reduce the arrears going into half-time. Wimbledon were denied a penalty when Stuart appeared to handball, the Barry Horne rammed in a 30-yard screamer to make it two-all. Everton surged forward in search of a winner and, nine minutes from time, they got it from Stuart, whose weak shot somehow sqeezed past Hans Segers. Cue pandemonium as survival was guaranteed, and - not for the last time in their history - Sheffield United were relegated feeling more than a little hard done by.

53. Euro 2000 - Yugoslavia 3-3 Slovenia

This Balkan derby was always going to have some spice, but the 15,000 who turned up to the Stade du Pays de Charleroi for this Group C game were treated to a remarkable quickfire comeback from the Yugoslavs - Serbia and Montenegro by another name. Slovenia, inspired by their brilliant captain Zlatko Zahovic, made a superb start to their first European Championship game when Zahovic headed in an Amir Karic free-kick on 23 minutes. Zahovic curled a free-kick onto the head of Miran Pavlin on 52 for 2-0, then five minutes made it three slotting calmly home after dispossessing Sinisa Mihajlovic - who was then sent off. Back came 10-man Yugoslavia though, with three goals in six amazing minutes. Savo Milosevic bundled in the first, Ljubinko Drulovic drilled the second and Milosevic poached his second from close range. Both sides came close to a winner in the final 17 minutes, but it finished with honours even. The Yugoslavs were involved in an even more amazing game eight days later when they lost 4-3 to Spain, but qualified from the group thanks to the draw between Slovenia and Norway.

54. FA Cup final 1979 - Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United

If the 1979 Cup final had ended after 85 minutes, it wouldn't be anywhere near our top 100; in fact, it would be floating around the half-million mark. Arsenal had taken a 2-0 half-time lead thanks to a close-range Brain Talbot finish and Frank Stapleton header, and with time ticking away, the Manchester United fans were already packing up their flasks and rattles when Gordon McQueen stuck the ball away for 2-1. That was in the 86th minute and no more than two later the Red Devils were level, the dribbling Sammy McIlroy stabbing into the corner as Pat Jennings came diving out of his goal. Bu the 'five-minute final' was not over: United surged upfield and at the death Graham Rix delivered a fabulous cross for Alan Sunderland to slide at the far post and convert.

55. UEFA Cu p 19 85 - Real Madrid 4-0 Borussia Moenchengladbach

The 1985/86 Real Madrid side boasted perhaps the worst away form of any side to win a European trophy. The Spanish giants lost five away games out of six, yet their performances in the Bernabeu just about carried them through. Never was their Jekyll and Hyde nature more apparent than in the third round, where they lost 5-1 to Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany before turning things around to go through on away goals. Having dispensed with Gladbach, Los Merengues proceeded nearly to chuck away a three-goal advantage by losing 2-0 at Neuchatel Xamax, then came from 3-1 down to beat Internazionale 6-4 on aggregate in the semis. In the days of two-legged finals, Real knew they would need to give themselves a sizeable advantage at home against Cologne and did just that, taking a 5-1 lead that a 2-0 reverse in Germany could not threaten. Real ended the campaign with a home goals for-and-against tally of 24-3 at home, 2-13 on their travels.

56. Premier League 1996-97 - Newcastle United 5-0 Manchester United

Five months after blowing a 12-point lead and surrendering the Premier League title, Kevin Keegan's Newcastle gained a measure of revenge with a thumping win against Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. Darren Peacock opened the scoring with a disputed header that may or may not have crossed the line, but there was no doubt about the second, a thunderbolt from David Ginola. Les Ferdinand headed in off the bar before record signing Alan Shearer - who famously rejected a move to Old Trafford - poached a fourth. The visitors' humiliation was completed on 83 minutes, when Philippe Albert beat Peter Schmeichel (pictured) with an exquisite chip. The result sent the champions into a tailspin as they lost four straight in league and Champions League - including an infamous 6-3 drubbing against Southampton. It didn't last. By January, Keegan was gone, and Fergie's side won the title by seven points.

57. Scottish League Cup final 1957 - Celtic 7-1 Rangers

This final has been dubbed 'Hampden in the sun', a name still heard in chants and songs to this day. League champions Rangers went into the match as favourites, but were ruthlessly taken apart by the Bhoys in front of more than 80,000 fans. After hitting the woodwork twice early on, Sammy Wilson broke the deadlock midway through the first half before Neil Mochan motored down the wing to blast in Celtic's second just before the break. Billy McPhail extended Celtic's lead soon after before Billy Simpson pulled one back for Rangers on the hour mark. That only spurred Celtic on, however, and Mochan scored another and McPhail completed his hat-trick before winning a late penalty which Willie Fernie converted. The result remains Celtic's biggest win over their arch rivals and is still the biggest ever domestic cup final victory in British football. Things got even worse for Rangers a month later when they were humbled 4-1 by Milan at Ibrox in the first round of the European Cup.

58. Second Division play-off 1999 - Gillingham 2-2 Manchester City (City win 3-1 on pens)

Incredible last-minute comebacks by Manchester sides were not the sole preserve of United in 1999, as neighbours City experienced plenty of drama themselves. A largely stale Wembley showpiece burst into life in the final 10 minutes when Carl Asaba fired into the top corner to give the Gills the lead. Asaba then turned provider as he set Bob Taylor free to bear down on goal and drill past Nicky Weaver and seemingly shatter City's dreams. Joe Royle's side were not downhearted, however, and threw everything they could at Gillingham. Their efforts paid off when, after Kevin Horlock fired through a crowd of players to score on 89 minutes, Paul Dickov scored one of the most iconic goals in the club's history in injury time to force a further 30 minutes. With no goals added in extra time it went to penalties, and with City 3-1 up in the shootout Weaver saved Paul Smith's spot-kick to send City back into the second tier.

59. Champions League semi-final 2008-09 - Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona (Barcelona win on away goals)

This pulsating match will probably be remembered best for Didier Drogba's pithy assessment of referee Tom Henning Ovrebo's refereeing performance, yelling at a TV camera: "It's a f****** disgrace!" The Ivorian had a point. Ovrebo enraged the home crowd by denying Chelsea a succession of seemingly clear-cut penalties, most obviously for a Gerard Pique handball, although he also harshly sent off Barcelona's Eric Abidal. However, the bungling referee's performance hardly excused the deranged reaction of Drogba and several other Chelsea players. The uproar obscured a heck of a game. After a goalless first leg, Michael Essien's outrageous left-foot volley gave Chelsea the lead, before Andres Iniesta sent Barca through on away goals with a brilliant stoppage time effort from the edge of the box. Some screamed conspiracy, as if the Anglophobe Michel Platini could somehow have orchestrated Iniesta's last-gasp magic; nonsense. Manchester United fans sniggering at their rivals' misfortune were soon put in their place - Barca walloped United in the final.

60. FA Cup final 2005-06 Liverpool 3-3 West Ham United (Liverpool win 3-1 on pens)

The curtain was brought down on the Millennium Stadium's six-year tenure as FA Cup final venue in spectacular fashion. Liverpool completed another dramatic cup final comeback, a year after their exploits in Istanbul which won them their fifth European Cup. West Ham boss Alan Pardew could scarcely believe his luck when a Jamie Carragher own goal and Dean Ashton's strike had his team 2-0 up after half an hour. Djibril Cisse and Steven Gerrard got Liverpool back on terms but when Paul Konchesky's looping cross caught Pepe Reina off guard and dropped in the Hammers looked destined for their first major trophy in 25 years. However, Gerrard again proved why he is such an inspiration for Kopites when, in stoppage time, he thundered a strike from 35 yards that gave Shaka Hislop no chance. Both sides went close in extra time, but it went to a shootout in which Reina made up for his earlier errors with three crucial saves that won Rafael Benitez his second trophy in two years at Liverpool.

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