Everyone loves a last-minute winner, don’t they? Well, obviously not if you’re on the receiving end…
Saturday 2 March 2024 saw two dramatic last-minute winners scored in the Premier League, with both Liverpool’s Darwin Núñez and West Ham’s Tomás Soucek netting in the final minute of matches against Nottingham Forest and Everton respectively to seal victories for their sides.
With 90th-minute winning goals on everyone’s minds, we look back at the various stats, facts and records surrounding them in Premier League history.
Which Team Has Scored the Most Last-Minute Winners in Premier League History?
Liverpool lead the way here, with 44 of their Premier League wins decided by a goal in the 90th minute or later. The latest of those came via Núñez last-gasp winner at Nottingham Forest – the club’s latest winning goal on record and the tenth latest goal in recorded Premier League history.
The Uruguayan’s strike was the third added-time winner for Liverpool in the Premier League this season, following his winning goal at Newcastle United in August and Harvey Elliot’s winner at Crystal Palace on 9 December.
Liverpool are one of three teams to have won matches in second-half added time this season in the Premier League, alongside Tottenham and Manchester United, while Núñez is one of three players to have scored more than one last-minute winner in 2023-24 alongside Arsenal’s Declan Rice and West Ham midfielder Soucek.
Soucek’s goal on Saturday gave West Ham a 2-1 lead in added time, before teammate Edson Álvarez added another in the 95th-minute to seal a 3-1 victory at Goodison Park versus Everton.
Those goals from Núñez and Soucek took the seasonal tally to 22 match-winning goals scored in the Premier League this season – just four away from the all-time record within a single season, set in 2021-22 (26).
Which Team Has Conceded the Most Last-Minute Winners in Premier League History?
Tottenham’s defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on 11 November 2023 was the 27th time in Premier League history that they have lost a match to an opposition side’s 90th-minute winning goal. In fact, Spurs were winning that match 1-0 in second-half added time, before goals from Pablo Sarabia (90+1) and Mario Lemina (90+7) stole all three points for Wolves.
Soucek’s strike for West Ham at Everton on 2 March was the 21st time that the Toffees have lost a Premier League match via a goal in second half added time, taking them above both Fulham and West Ham in the rankings.
Despite playing in every Premier League season, Manchester United have only conceded six 90+ minute goals that proved to be winners – just one of those came in the Alex Ferguson era, courtesy of Thierry Henry’s last-gasp winner for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in January 2007. In fact, three of those six games lost to last-minute winners have been against Arsenal.
Alex Iwobi’s strike at Old Trafford on 24 February saw Fulham beat Man Utd 2-1. That was the just the second last-minute winner that the Red Devils have conceded at Old Trafford in the Premier League and the first since Patrick van Aanholt for Crystal Palace in August 2019.
The Most Premier League Last-Minute Winners by Players
Six different players have scored as many as four last-minute winners in Premier League history, but just one of those is currently playing in the competition: Marcus Rashford.
Winners versus Hull City (August 2016), Bournemouth (November 2018), Wolves (December 2020) and West Ham (January 2022) mean that with one more 90th-minute winning goal, he could go outright top in Premier League history among all players.
He currently shares the lead with five other players: Steven Gerrard, Ian Wright, Christian Benteke, Papiss Demba Cissé and Sadio Mané. All-time leading Premier League scorer Alan Shearer scored three winning goals in the 90th minute or later, as did Henry, Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Harry Kane and Robin van Persie alongside nine others.
Ben Foster was on the receiving end of the most 90th-minute winning goals in Premier League history, conceding 13 overall. That’s one more than David James and Joe Hart and two more than Brad Friedel and Lukasz Fabianski.
Stadiums With the Most Last-Minute Winners
No Premier League stadium has witnessed more 90th-minute winners than Anfield. Of the 28 scored at Liverpool’s iconic stadium, 22 have been scored by the Reds. The last visiting player to score a 90th-minute winning goal at Anfield in the Premier League was Robin van Persie for Arsenal on 3 March 2012, which handed the Gunners a 2-1 victory on Merseyside.
It’s the other stadium on Merseyside that’s witnessed the next most, with Everton’s Goodison Park seeing 24 last-minute winners in Premier League history – nine by the opposition and 14 in their favour. Liverpool have scored three of these, thanks to goals from Gary McAllister (April 2001), Dirk Kuyt (October 2007) and Mané (December 2016).
Fergie Time?
Well, technically we should be labelling it ‘Moyesy Time.’
David Moyes has been in charge of 33 Premier League matches that have been decided by a goal in the 90th minute or later. Twenty-one of those have been in his favour, with the win for his West Ham side at Everton on Saturday 2 March equalling Arsène Wenger’s all-time record in the competition.
Roy Hodgson (13) is the only manager to have lost more Premier League games via last-minute winners than Moyes (12), but with the oldest manager in Premier League history having left Crystal Palace in February, it seems unlikely he’ll suffer any more.
Ferguson won 16 Premier League matches as Manchester United boss via goals scored in the 90th minute or later across his tenure in charge of the club. He lost 114 games overall in the Premier League, but just one of those came via a 90th-minute goal – the aforementioned Arsenal win via Henry’s strike at the Emirates in 2007.
After that 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on 2 March, Jürgen Klopp has seen his Liverpool side win 18 matches with last-minute goals – the most in the competition since his arrival at the Reds in October 2015.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our new football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.