Football's best revenge missions as Bournemouth aim to avenge 9-0 Liverpool loss
Bournemouth have made plenty of progress since their 9-0 loss at Anfield, but it will still sting for those involved in August.
Six different Reds players were on target in a match which equalled the Cherries' worst ever league loss and ended up being the beginning of the end for then-manager Scott Parker. Bournemouth go into the reverse fixture bottom of the table under Parker's successor Gary O'Neil, but a spirited performance against Arsenal last time out might well give them hope.
Suffering a heavy loss and then coming back to beat the same opponent later that year is easier said than done, but O'Neil's side wouldn't be the first to achieve the feat.
Here, Mirror Football looks back at some other examples.
Southampton v Leicester, 2019-20
For a while, Southampton's 9-0 loss at home to Leicester in October 2019 was all anyone could talk about when Ralph Hasenhuttl's side played on TV. Right up until they lost 9-0 at Manchester United the following season, which, yeah, it's not the best of reasons, is it?
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In the interim, though, Saints put the Leicester loss behind them in the best possible way. After allowing Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy to both hit hat-tricks at St Mary's, they fell behind to Dennis Praet's opener at the King Power Stadium, but came back to win 2-1 thanks to Danny Ings' late effort.
Leicester had been second going into the game, but that kicked off a run of one win in seven which eventually saw them tailspin and miss out on the top four altogether. Southampton, meanwhile, recovered to finish 11th after dropping into the bottom three with that 9-0 loss.
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Southampton's home defeat was the joint-worst in Premier League history (Getty Images)"It was a very important game for us this season to see how we play now - we have changed our mindset and worked hard to play in a successful way," Hasenhuttl said after the away win. "Watching this team is enjoyable at the moment."
Crystal Palace v Liverpool, 1989-90
If Liverpool need any motivation to avoid a slip-up on Saturday, all they'll need to do is look back 30-odd years. Back then, Kenny Dalglish's side thrashed Crystal Palace en route to the league title but saw their double dreams dashed by the same opponents.
The 9-0 September win at Anfield was famous for coming via eight different scorers, with Steve Nicol the only man to bag a brace. The Reds also won 2-0 at Selhurst Park in January, but failed to make it three out of three in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Palace's extra-time win sent them to Wembley (Mirrorpix)In a topsy-turvy game at Villa Park, Liverpool went in front early but trailed going into the final 10 minutes. A quickfire double from Steve McMahon and John Barnes restored their lead, only for Andy Gray to send the game into extra-time and Alan Pardew to deliver Palace's winner.
Palace ended up falling short in the final, losing a replay to Manchester United after another dramatic draw at Wembley. However, the revenge against Liverpool - coupled with avoiding the drop - meant there were still plenty of positives.
Wigan v Man Utd, 2011-12
Wigan's record against Man Utd was unspeakably bad going into their April 2012 meeting, with 14 defeats from 14. Back in the 2009-10 season, the Latics had lost 5-0 home and away against Alex Ferguson's side, and a Dimitar Berbatov hat-trick ensured they were beaten by the same scoreline on Boxing Day in 2011.
Shaun Maloney gave Wigan their first ever win against Man Utd (Getty Images)When United came to the DW Stadium for the reverse fixture, Roberto Martinez's side were down in 19th. A first ever victory over the league leaders would have been useful, but history suggested it was far from likely.
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Unlikely doesn't mean impossible, though. Shaun Maloney cut in to score a 50th-minute winner under the lights, sparking a late break for survival while also denting the opposition's title hopes.
"Phil Dowd had a bad game and never got to grips with it, but Wigan were the better team and deserved it," Man Utd boss Ferguson said. "It was one of these off-nights. It is unavoidable sometimes."
West Germany v Hungary, 1954 World Cup
A chance for revenge in the league will always be there if you lose the first meeting. In a major international tournament, though, this kind of thing is much rarer.
West Germany came back from 2-0 down to win the 1954 World Cup final (Hulton Archive)It's not entirely without precedent, though. Portugal fluffed their lines in Euro 2004, losing to Greece in the group stage and the final, but West Germany had a better and more dramatic turnaround half a century earlier.
Sepp Herberger's team were handed an 8-3 thrashing by the Magic Magyars in the group stage, with Sandor Kocsis scoring a hat-trick. A play-off victory over Turkey saw them through to the knockout rounds, though, with victories over Yugoslavia and Austria setting up a rematch in the final.
When Hungary went 2-0 up inside 10 minutes, some might have feared another thrashing, but it was all square long before the break. In the 84th minute, Helmut Rahn popped up with his second and West Germany's third, denying the Hungarians a first World Cup.
“Rahn was and is one of the last legends,” Franz Beckenbauer would later say, per The Ringer. “He shaped an entire generation.”
Sweden under-21s v France under-21s, 2014
Layvin Kurzawa's joy was short-lived (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)Not the heaviest of defeats, sure, but one of the sweeter revenge missions. And it's all down to how Les Bleus marked their victory.
With no nations qualifying automatically for the European under-21 Championships, group winners France and Sweden were drawn together in a two-legged play-off. France won the first leg 2-0, and looked to have thwarted a dramatic Swedish turnaround in Halmstad when Layvin Kurzawa seemingly sent them through on away goals.
Kurzawa, now at Fulham but then at Monaco, made a point of celebrating in the faces of the opposition after scoring with a diving header three minutes from time. There was still time for Oscar Lewicki to deliver a late winner, though, and you can guess how Sweden marked the occasion.
Sunderland v Southampton, 2015
Sunderland's 8-0 defeat at Southampton in October 2014 was nothing short of calamitous. The Black Cats really lived up to the bad luck associated with the animal of their nickname, with three different players scoring own goals.
Jordi Gomez completed Sunderland's revenge mission against Southampton (AFP/Getty Images)Manager Gus Poyet survived that defeat, but was sacked in the spring with his team fighting what looked increasingly like a losing battle against the drop. Dick Advocaat arrived after a six-game winless run, and the return game against Southampton was looming large.
As it turns out, there was nothing for the strugglers to worry about. Two Jordi Gomez penalties brought a 2-1 win, with James Ward-Prowse sent off for the visitors, and Advocaat went on to lead his team to safety.
Some may point to the eight winless games which saw Advocaat to get the sack at the start of the following season. That's hardly the point here, though.
Man Utd v Spurs and Liverpool v Aston Villa, 2021
Liverpool left things very late against Aston Villa (Clive Brunskill/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)On one remarkable day in September 2020, Tottenham won 6-1 at Old Trafford and Liverpool - unbeaten since beginning their title defence - fell to a 7-2 loss away to Aston Villa. The wait for a shot at revenge was a long one, with the return fixtures not until April, but it was worth it.
Spurs had topped the league in December, but by the spring even a top four finish looked unlikely. Son Heung-min gave them a half-time lead at home to United, but the visitors hit three after the break to increase the pressure on manager Jose Mourinho, who would be gone just days later.
One day before the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Liverpool welcomed Villa to Anfield looking to keep their own top four hopes alive. It wasn't a hammering, but the manner of the win - a comeback sealed in stoppage-time by Trent Alexander-Arnold - might have made it even sweeter.
The combination of results lifted Jurgen Klopp's team above Spurs in the battle for Champions League football. Victory over Bournemouth on Saturday could do the same, but Liverpool will know it's often not quite that straightforward.
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