Fulham fought bravely in defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night, as the Cottagers came back from 5-1 down to give the visitors a fright at Craven Cottage.
The West London side’s 5-4 defeat was arguably the game of the season so far, and a rarity in the Premier League. Just three times previously had a team scored four times at home and lost in the Premier League.
Teams to score four goals in a home Premier League match and lose:
Norwich 4-5 Southampton – 1994
Norwich City, incredibly, are responsible for two of the games on this list and were the first team to ‘achieve’ the unusual feat in 1994. The Canaries came out second-best against Southampton at Carrow Road, in a nine-goal thriller that was just 1-1 at half-time.
Norwich led through Mark Robins, but a 44th-minute own goal from Robert Ullathorne levelled the game on the stroke of the interval.
After the break, the game exploded. A chaotic game saw Matt Le Tissier star for the Saints with a hat-trick, with Chris Sutton on target twice for Norwich. An end-to-end game looked set to end all level at 4-4, until Ken Monkou snatched a 90th-minute winner for the Saints.
Tottenham 4-5 Arsenal – 2004
The North London Derby is arguably the Premier League’s best, with entertainment rarely in short supply. A pulsating capital clash ended 5-4 in Arsenal’s favour in 2004, despite Spurs taking an early lead.
Noureddine Naybet volleyed the home side in front, but goals from Thierry Henry and Lauren either side of half-time turned the game around for Arsenal. Patrick Vieira added a third for the visitors on the hour, but Jermain Defoe reduced the deficit again.
Arsenal restored their two-goal lead when Freddie Ljungberg netted, only for a spirited Spurs to get back into the game again through Ledley King’s header. A fifth for the visitors arrived through Robert Pires to make the result safe, though there was still time for Freddie Kanoute to score a fourth for Spurs late on.
Norwich 4-5 Liverpool – 2016
Adam Lallana’s injury-time goal for Liverpool capped a crazy game at Carrow Road and saw Jurgen Klopp break his glasses in the visitors’ late celebrations.
The early incarnation of Klopp’s Liverpool were fun but flawed, thrilling going forward but vulnerable at the back.
All of that was on show here.
Liverpool led early through Roberto Firmino, but Norwich hit back to stun the visitors. Goals from Dieumerci Mbokani, Steven Naismith and Wes Hoolahan put the Canaries in control, though Liverpool hit back in style.
Firmino’s second and a Jordan Henderson goal made it 3-3, and when James Milner made it four, the comeback appeared complete.
Nine goals. ⚽️
An injury-time winner. ⌚️
THOSE celebrations. 🎉 #OnThisDay in 2016, our thrilling 5-4 win at @NorwichCityFC. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/UsGozRTNXi— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 23, 2019
But neither side was done. Sebastian Bassong looked to have rescued a result for Norwich in stoppage time, only for Lallana’s later effort to provide one final twist – and a visit to the opticians for Klopp.
Fulham 4-5 Manchester City – 2025
Fulham’s fighting spirit saw Manchester City survive a scare on a wild night in West London this week.
The Cottagers looked in for a long evening as City raced into a 5-1 lead, with Erling Haaland becoming the fastest footballer in history to reach 100 Premier League goals in the process. Marco Silva’s side refused to roll over, however, and instead set up a frantic finale.
Alex Iwobi kick-started the admiral but ultimately failed fightback, before a quick-fire double from Samuel Chukwueze made it 5-4 with 12 minutes still to play.
City required a goal-line clearance from Josko Gvardiol to escape with the points, after what had appeared a comfortable night at The Cottage.
Read – The fastest players to 100 Premier League goals
See more – The 25 fastest players in EA Sports FC 26
