Oldham Athletic 3-6 Manchester United, 1991
The day after Christmas in 1991 was no Stephen’s Day, it was Denis’s day. Returning to his old club at Boundary Park the best left back ever to come out of Cork scored not just once, but twice to clinch three points for United. Showing a blatant disregard for the more modern trend of not celebrating at your former club, Irwin went berserk both times he found the net.
At half-time Bryan Robson was withdrawn for a young, unknown left winger. The curly black haired left footer would go on to score United’s sixth and seal the win. His name was Ryan Giggs.
You can see full match highlights below.
Coventry City 3-2 Arsenal, 1999
Another Stephen’s Day cracker that saw an Irishman find the net. Arsenal travelled to Highfield Road trying to maintain a league title challenge but left empty-handed. Gary McAllister opened the scoring for the home side with a deflected shot before setting up Mustapha Hadji to make it 2-0 before the break.
Freddie Ljungberg looked to have got the Gunners back into the game when he poked home after 65 minutes but Robbie Keane would pop up to make it 3-1 thanks to a brilliant piece of improvisation that saw him flick the ball past David Seaman. Former Ballon d’Or runner-up Davon Suker halved the difference with five minutes to go but Coventry held on.
Chelsea 4-4 Aston Villa, 2007
Eight goals and three red cards were served up in this Stephen’s Day treat seven years ago. Shaun Maloney slid in to give Villa the lead before a mistake from Petr Cech gifted him a second.
In a season where Manchester United would deny Chelsea both a league title and a European Cup it looked like they were slumping to a Stephen’s Day defeat. However, Zat Knight’s red card and Andriy Shevchenko’s penalty would get the home side right back into the game.
Shevchenko then drew Chelsea level before Alex smashed home what looked to be a winner but Martin Laursen replied for Villa. A nasty lunge from Ricardo Carvalho saw him given his marching orders shortly after. With the game now at 3-3 Chelsea looked to have won it again when Michael Ballack hit the net with a free-kick but Gareth Barry struck a late winner after the referee brandished his red card yet again, this time to Ashley Cole for a handball.
Aston Villa 2-2 Arsenal, 2008
Villa were involved in another classic a year later that, once again, saw them stage an unlikely comeback. The home side started the brighter and hit the post twice in the first half but would go behind just before half time when Denilson caught Nigel Reo-Coker in possession and slotted home.
Abou Diaby looked to have sewn it up for the visitors shortly after the restart but Villa weren’t out of it yet. First Gareth Barry got one back thanks to a spot kick before Zat Knight, the villain from twelve months previously, steered home a Stiliyan Petrov cross in injury time for a share of the points.
Manchester United 4-3 Newcastle United, 2012
United and Newcastle have shared some classic encounters down the years and this festive meeting was no different as the visitors went ahead three times but ended up going home with nothing.
James Perch nipped in to net the opener after just four minutes. Jonny Evans equalised in the 25th minute after Robin van Persie’s free-kick created havoc in the penalty area before the Northern Irishman turned the ball into his own net to give the Magpies the lead.
Patrice Evra drilled a low effort past Tim Krul to level it again but the pendulum swung in Newcastle’s favour when Papiss Cisse peeled off his marker and flashed a left-footed shot past David De Gea. Van Persie then equalised 20 minutes from the end before Javier Hernandez slid home from close range to send Old Trafford into delirium.
