The 3 Best Football Comebacks

by Fong Ming (5B)

1. Barcelona 6-5 Paris Saint-Germain

This was one of the most insane comebacks in football history as Barcelona trailed 0-4 in the first leg of the Round-of-16 of the UEFA Champions League 2016-17. The second leg was played in Camp Nou, the stadium of FC Barcelona. Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez scored a goal in the third minute and Layvin Kurzawa scored an own-goal for PSG. The Barca players felt hope. A penalty on the 50th minute taken by Lionel Messi made it only a 1-goal margin on the aggregate. The Barcelona players were all hoping for a comeback, but Edinson Cavani scored an incredible volley and now Barca needed to score 3 goals to qualify for the next round. The fans all thought it was gone. Then, the miracle started. Brazillian winger Neymar scored a free-kick for Barcelona with only 2 minutes left. The aggregate score was 4-5. But they had to score 2 goals because of the away goal rule of the Champions League. The referee had given only 3 minutes of added time. And they have achieved the impossible. Neymar scored a goal from the penalty spot in the 91st minute. In the 96th minute, substitute Sergi Roberto scored the winning goal and the scoreboard turned to 6-5. The crowd went crazy. Barcelona had done the most unbelievable comeback in football history.

2. Arsenal 7-5 Reading FC.

In the Capital One Cup 2012, Reading led by 4 in the 44th minute. All the Reading players thought they were going to thrash the Gunners. “Reading is running riot,” Sky Sports commentator Rob Hawthorne called out in astonishment. “Arsenal are being annihilated!”  Theo Walcott scored a goal for Arsenal before half-time to make it 4-1. But Arsenal still only had a tiny chance to win. In the 88th minute, Olivier Giroud scored a goal and it was 4-2. But with only 2 minutes left, the game was still Reading’s. Arsenal scored another goal a minute later and scored a goal in the last minute of added time. The crowd couldn’t believe it. The scoreline was ridiculous. In extra time, Arsenal scored a goal and took the lead and the crowd went crazy. But minutes later, Reading equalized it and made it 5-5. In the last minutes of the extra-time, Arsenal scored another 2 goals and they came back from 0-4.

3. Charlton Athletic 7-6 Huddersfield Town

In December 1957, Charlton hosted Huddersfield under cold weather in the Valley, England. The Addicts was down to 10 men as a player was sent off in just the 17th minute. Les Massie scored a goal for the Terriers and Alex Bain increased their advantage to 2. Huddersfield banged 3 more goals and they lead by 5-1 with only 30 minutes left. However, there was still hope for Charlton. Johnny Ryan and Summers scored quick goals for Charlton but they still trailed 3-5. In the 73rd minute, Summers scored another goal and gave Charlton hope for winning. Summers scored his personal fourth for Charlton and the score was tied now. The audience could not believe it but it was the truth. Charlton won 7-6 with another goal.