Just a small thread for the stat nerds out there. Today's win of course makes this our eighth straight away victory which is very encouraging on the travel front. However the manner of today's victory also makes this the eighth time in the Premier League era that Man Utd have come back from a 2-goal deficit to win 3-2. Incredibly, of those 8 wins, only one has occurred on home soil:
v Manchester City at Maine Road (7th of November 1993)
At the home of the old enemy, Niall Quinn puts City firmly in command after putting them in front on 21 minutes and completing a brace in the 32rd. However Cantona replies with a brace of his own, getting on the end of a mis-headed back pass on 52 minutes and finishing off of the left hand post before an assist from Giggs on 78 minutes is tucked into the left corner. The turn-around is completed three minutes from time when a nice bit of interplay sees Sharpe released down the left and his cross is missed by Hughes but Keane nips in behind to tuck it into the right hand corner to give United all three points.
v Blackpool at Bloomfield Road (25th of January 2011)
Blackpool come out of the traps as a Charlie Adam corner is headed in by United old-boy Craig Cathcart on 15 minutes and extend that lead two minutes before half time when another Adams corner is head in on the left post by DJ Campbell. 2-0 down at half time, United leave it late when on 72 minutes, a through ball from Nani feeds Fletcher in and his pass is slotted in by Berbatov. The equaliser is scored two minutes later when Giggs finds Chicarito through on goal who slots neatly past Kingson. Berbatov finishes the turn-around two minutes from time to maintain United's unbeaten run.
v Aston Villa at Villa Park (10th of November 2012)
Weimann puts Villa ahead one minute into injury time in the first half from the edge of the box and grabs a second five minutes into the second half, getting on the end of an Agbonlahor cross to slot into the right hand corner. A chipped through pass from Scholes sees Hernandez get one back before a deflection off Vlaar puts it past his own keeper to put United level again. Man Utd almost pull ahead when Van Persie's shot from the edge of the box cannons off the crossbar but Hernandez completes the comeback three minutes from time, getting his head to a Van Persie free kick to take all three points.
v Hull City at KC Stadium (26th of December 2013)
The Tigers start quickly when a 4th minute corner is hammered by James Chester and they follow it up 9 minutes later when a chaotic pinball in the box falls to the feet of Meyler who doubles Hull's lead. The visitors quickly show sparks of life though when a 19th minute free kick from Rooney sees Smalling head in on the back post. United pull level 7 minutes later when Rooney volleys it into the top left corner past McGregor from the edge of the box. The win is sealed on 66 minutes when a right-hand cross sees Chester head past his own keeper.
v Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park (5th March 2018)
Andros Townsend starts the proceedings by opening Palace's account after 11 minutes, getting on a Benteke pass and sending it looping into the top right hand corner. Van Aanholt piles on the misery, comfortably slotting it into De Gea's left hand corner. Things look a little brighter though on 55 minutes when Valencia finds the head of Smalling on the edge of the box who then finds the bottom corner. 76 minutes are on the clock when a Sanchez's attempt comes back off the crossbar and falls to the feet of Lukaku who, after some initial hesitancy, knocks it in to level things up. Victory is secured a minute into injury time when a Matic screamer from the outside the box eludes a despairing Hennessy.
v Man City at Etihad Stadium (7th April 2018)
This trip to the Etihad gets off to a decidedly dodgy start when with 25 minutes played, a five minute spell sees United 2-0 down. A Kompany header from a corner puts City ahead and Gundogan makes things worse, turning Smalling cleverly and slotting it into De Gea's right hand corner. However, a second half sterling performance by Pogba puts United right back into contention, getting onto a Herrera chested pass from a Sanchez cross and slotting calmly past Ederson before a heading a Sanchez cross into the bottom left corner. Smalling completes the comeback, volleying in from a free kick to give Man Utd all three points.
v Newcastle at Old Trafford (6th October 2018)
The Red Devils once again find themselves doing things the hard way as Newcastle take an early 7th minute lead as an Ayoze Perez through ball splits the defence and Kenedy turns Young inside out before slotting past De Gea. Muto piles on the misery three minutes later, chesting down a Shelvey cross and turning on it before blasting it past De Gea again. However, United are known for pulling victories out of the fire and Mata gets things going after 70 minutes, with a delicious free kick into the right hand corner. Martial equalises 6 minutes later, racing into the middle before slamming it past Dubravka. And on the cusp of injury time, Sanchez heads an Ashley Young cross into the left hand corner to give United an unlikely win.
v Southampton at St. Mary's (29th November 2020)
Well I don't think I need to give any summaries for what happened today.
All in all, a pretty impressive array of comebacks. I also noticed that in the past decade, of our last 20 matches against Southampton, 25% of those have been 3-2 wins and all of those have been in our favour. Not much of a thread I realise, when compared to others but just thought I'd point this out. It'd be interesting to see if there's any comebacks like these in the future. Maybe I could add them to the list.
v Manchester City at Maine Road (7th of November 1993)
At the home of the old enemy, Niall Quinn puts City firmly in command after putting them in front on 21 minutes and completing a brace in the 32rd. However Cantona replies with a brace of his own, getting on the end of a mis-headed back pass on 52 minutes and finishing off of the left hand post before an assist from Giggs on 78 minutes is tucked into the left corner. The turn-around is completed three minutes from time when a nice bit of interplay sees Sharpe released down the left and his cross is missed by Hughes but Keane nips in behind to tuck it into the right hand corner to give United all three points.
v Blackpool at Bloomfield Road (25th of January 2011)
Blackpool come out of the traps as a Charlie Adam corner is headed in by United old-boy Craig Cathcart on 15 minutes and extend that lead two minutes before half time when another Adams corner is head in on the left post by DJ Campbell. 2-0 down at half time, United leave it late when on 72 minutes, a through ball from Nani feeds Fletcher in and his pass is slotted in by Berbatov. The equaliser is scored two minutes later when Giggs finds Chicarito through on goal who slots neatly past Kingson. Berbatov finishes the turn-around two minutes from time to maintain United's unbeaten run.
v Aston Villa at Villa Park (10th of November 2012)
Weimann puts Villa ahead one minute into injury time in the first half from the edge of the box and grabs a second five minutes into the second half, getting on the end of an Agbonlahor cross to slot into the right hand corner. A chipped through pass from Scholes sees Hernandez get one back before a deflection off Vlaar puts it past his own keeper to put United level again. Man Utd almost pull ahead when Van Persie's shot from the edge of the box cannons off the crossbar but Hernandez completes the comeback three minutes from time, getting his head to a Van Persie free kick to take all three points.
v Hull City at KC Stadium (26th of December 2013)
The Tigers start quickly when a 4th minute corner is hammered by James Chester and they follow it up 9 minutes later when a chaotic pinball in the box falls to the feet of Meyler who doubles Hull's lead. The visitors quickly show sparks of life though when a 19th minute free kick from Rooney sees Smalling head in on the back post. United pull level 7 minutes later when Rooney volleys it into the top left corner past McGregor from the edge of the box. The win is sealed on 66 minutes when a right-hand cross sees Chester head past his own keeper.
v Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park (5th March 2018)
Andros Townsend starts the proceedings by opening Palace's account after 11 minutes, getting on a Benteke pass and sending it looping into the top right hand corner. Van Aanholt piles on the misery, comfortably slotting it into De Gea's left hand corner. Things look a little brighter though on 55 minutes when Valencia finds the head of Smalling on the edge of the box who then finds the bottom corner. 76 minutes are on the clock when a Sanchez's attempt comes back off the crossbar and falls to the feet of Lukaku who, after some initial hesitancy, knocks it in to level things up. Victory is secured a minute into injury time when a Matic screamer from the outside the box eludes a despairing Hennessy.
v Man City at Etihad Stadium (7th April 2018)
This trip to the Etihad gets off to a decidedly dodgy start when with 25 minutes played, a five minute spell sees United 2-0 down. A Kompany header from a corner puts City ahead and Gundogan makes things worse, turning Smalling cleverly and slotting it into De Gea's right hand corner. However, a second half sterling performance by Pogba puts United right back into contention, getting onto a Herrera chested pass from a Sanchez cross and slotting calmly past Ederson before a heading a Sanchez cross into the bottom left corner. Smalling completes the comeback, volleying in from a free kick to give Man Utd all three points.
v Newcastle at Old Trafford (6th October 2018)
The Red Devils once again find themselves doing things the hard way as Newcastle take an early 7th minute lead as an Ayoze Perez through ball splits the defence and Kenedy turns Young inside out before slotting past De Gea. Muto piles on the misery three minutes later, chesting down a Shelvey cross and turning on it before blasting it past De Gea again. However, United are known for pulling victories out of the fire and Mata gets things going after 70 minutes, with a delicious free kick into the right hand corner. Martial equalises 6 minutes later, racing into the middle before slamming it past Dubravka. And on the cusp of injury time, Sanchez heads an Ashley Young cross into the left hand corner to give United an unlikely win.
v Southampton at St. Mary's (29th November 2020)
Well I don't think I need to give any summaries for what happened today.
All in all, a pretty impressive array of comebacks. I also noticed that in the past decade, of our last 20 matches against Southampton, 25% of those have been 3-2 wins and all of those have been in our favour. Not much of a thread I realise, when compared to others but just thought I'd point this out. It'd be interesting to see if there's any comebacks like these in the future. Maybe I could add them to the list.
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Unexpectedly Smalling is among the highest on the list.