FIVE Best Premier League ‘Great Escapes’
Newcastle United’s 2021-2022 season has been a rollercoaster with the Magpies staring relegation in the face early on before Eddie Howe transformed the side.
The team from the North looked nailed on for relegation before Howe came in a moulded the team.
If he had a few more games, there is no reason why Howe wouldn’t have had the team in the top half of the table.
This has been an incredible turn around but what are the best ‘great escapes’ of the Premier League era?
Fulham 2007-08
The final day of the season saw one of the most incredible turnarounds in the Premier League in a game Fulham were 2-0 down in.
The London team were 20 minutes away from relegation but a Diomansy Kamara double with a Danny Murphy goal in the middle saw Fulham beat Manchester City.
Youssi Benayoun equalising against Birmingham meant Reading dropped down to the championship whilst Fulham lived to fight another day.
West Ham United 2006-07
After 29 games of the season West Ham sat rock bottom with 20 points but the last nine games of the season were truly special.
The hammers picked up 21 points in their last nine games, seven wins, after summer signing Carlos Tevez found his feet scoring 10 in as many games.
The highlight of West Ham’s great escape came in the form of a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford, a game no one expected to go the Irons way.
From being last in the league, the hammers last nine games of the season was the best of any team in the league.
West Bromwich Albion 2004-05
West Brom were bottom of the table on Christmas day and were already relegated in the eyes of many fans.
A 17-minute Robert Earnshaw hattrick, a 2-0 derby win over Portsmouth and final day of the season victory are just three of the highlights to the Baggies second half of the season.
Bryan Robson’s side looked down and out but something clicked in the side after christmas, unfortunately the same couldn’t be said about the following season as they were relegated.
Oldham Athletic 1992-93
The first season in Premier League history saw a great escape from Oldham who were in their second consecutive season in the top flight.
After 39 games of a 42 game season Oldham were six points away from safety but managed to beat second placed Aston Villa, eighth placed Liverpool and 16th placed Southampton.
This was the first and only time Oldham had won three consecutive top flight matches and meant they stayed in the Premier League with a goal difference two better than Crystal Palaces.
Portsmouth 2005-06
28 games into the season, four wins 18 goals to their name and eight points off safety, Portsmouth looked set for relegation in March.
Pompey’s final ten games of the season made them look like title contenders winning six and drawing two securing 20 points in the process.
After losing 2-1 to West Brom on the final day of the season the year before, Portsmouth sent the Baggies down securing their place in the 2006-07 Premier League with a game to spare.
