Top 5 Boxing Day football classics

Sheffield Wednesday 3 – 3 Manchester United (1992)

Sheffield Wednesday came flying out of the traps and went three up thanks to David Hirst, Mark Bright and John Sheridan. United came roaring back into the game in the second-half and the comeback was complete when Eric Cantona popped up with the equalizer. United went on to clinch the title at the end of the season while Wednesday suffered double cup final heartache against Arsenal

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Coventry City 3 – 2 Arsenal (1999)

Arsenal travelled to Highfield Road in good spirits but left empty-handed. Gary McAllister broke the deadlock when he surged forward before trying a speculative shot that took a deflection off Martin Keown, leaving David Seaman with no chance. The Sky Blues were two up just before the break, as McAllister turned provider feeding a perfectly weighted ball to Mustapha Hadji, who curled a shot beyond the reach of Seaman. Freddie Ljungberg reduced the arrears when he poked home after 65 minutes at the third time of asking. The goal appeared to give the Gunners much-needed impetus, but Robbie Keane made it 3-1 with a brilliant piece of improvisation, flicking the ball past Seaman. Davor Suker grabbed one back with five minutes remaining but Coventry held on for a famous victory.

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Chelsea 4 – 4 Aston Villa (2007)

Aston Villa dented Chelsea’s title hopes in a rip-roaring encounter at Stamford Bridge. Shaun Maloney volleyed home from close range before putting Villa 2-0 up when his shot from outside the box squirted through Petr Cech’s arm. The Blues pulled one back through Andriy Shevchenko from the penalty spot before he scored his second and Chelsea’s equalizer with a pile-driver that flew into the top corner. Brazilian Alex then gave Chelsea the lead for the first time when he fired home after a neat move before Villa responded through Martin Laursen. Michael Ballack looked to have won it two minutes from the end with an expertly-taken free-kick but Gareth Barry snatched a point for Villa by sending Cech the wrong way from the spot.

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Aston Villa 2 – 2 Arsenal (2008)

Another extraordinary comeback from Aston Villa came against Arsenal a year later. The Gunners struck first through Denilson in the 40th minute when he dispossessed Nigel Reo-Coker before slotting past the legs of Brad Friedel. The visitors looked to have sewn up the game through Abou Diaby four minutes after the restart when he exchanged passes with Emmanuel Eboue before smashing home. However, Villa reduced the deficit in the 65th minute when Gareth Barry scored from the spot after Gabriel Agbonlahor was upended by William Gallas and Zat Knight had the final say when he turned home a Stiliyan Petrov cross deep into injury time.

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Manchester United 4 – 3 Newcastle (2012)

Manchester United and Newcastle have shared some classic encounters down the years and this festive meeting was no different as the Magpies pushed the hosts all the way in a seven-goal thriller. James Perch breached United’s defence when he nipped in after just four minutes to slide home the opener. Jonny Evans equalised in the 25th minute after Robin van Persie’s free-kick created havoc in the penalty area before Evans inadvertently scored at the wrong end to gift Newcastle the lead three minutes leader. Patrice Evra drilled a low effort past Tim Krul to restore parity once 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 equalized 20 minutes from the end before Javier Hernandez slid home from close range to send Old Trafford into delirium.

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