Most Assists, Possession Cards & Goals in a Single PL Game

On the opening weekend of the 2021/22 Premier League season, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba became just the seventh player since the league’s inaugural campaign in 1992/93 to create four assists in a single match, doing so in the Roses Rivalry as the Red Devils hammered Leeds United 5-1.

Dennis Bergkamp was the first to achieve this feat against Leicester City at Highbury back in January 1999 for Arsenal in a thumping 5-0 win for the Gunners, whilst other players who have achieved this whilst playing for the North London side include Spanish trio Jose Antonio Reyes in a 7-0 home win against Middlesbrough in the 2005/06 campaign, as well as Cesc Fabregas against Blackburn Rovers in 2009 and Santi Cazorla versus Wigan Athletic in 2013.

Ironically, Emmanuel Adebayor was the first non-Arsenal player to achieve four assists in a single game, although it is well known that he is a former Gunner. He managed to create four goals in Tottenham Hotspur’s 5-0 hammering of Newcastle United at White Hart Lane in 2012 and even managed to get on the scoresheet himself.

Prior to Pogba’s recent achievement, the most recent player to get four assists in a single Premier League match was Harry Kane of Tottenham. The Spurs and England captain did this in his sides 5-2 mauling of Southampton last September, setting up South Korean forward Son Heung-min four times before scoring his side’s fifth goal of the game.

Five players have managed five goals in a single Premier League match, compared to the twenty-three that have managed four. The first time this feat was achieved was in Manchester United’s 9-0 hammering of Ipswich Town in March 1995 where Andy Cole was the man who scored five in what is the joint-biggest Premier League home win, alongside the Old Trafford club’s 9-0 thumping of Southampton last season.

The other United player to achieve this feat was Dimitar Berbatov in a 7-1 win against Blackburn in late November 2010, whilst the Bulgarian’s former Tottenham teammate Jermain Defoe managed this just 12 months prior in a 9-1 victory against Wigan.

Alan Shearer was the second-ever player to score five goals in a Premier League match as the Magpies thumped Sheffield Wednesday 8-0 at St James’ Park in September 1999, whilst Sergio Aguero was the last man to do it in a 6-1 win against the Toon Army at the Etihad Stadium in October 2015.

Most Yellow Cards by a Single Team

The most bookings received by a single team in a Premier League match is the nine that Tottenham received in their 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in May 2016. Spurs went into half-time leading 2-0 thanks to goals by Kane and Son, but, second-half strikes from Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard by the Blues won the title for Leicester City at Spurs’ expense, which seemed to ignite what was already a tense evening as a challenge by Danny Rose on Willian late on sparked touchline brawl between both clubs.

West Ham held the previous record for the most amount of yellow cards in a single Premier League match in an away game at QPR in October 2012, where the Irons won 2-1 via goals from Matt Jarvis and Ricardo Vaz Te.

Most Red Cards by a Single Team

Three teams have managed to receive three red cards in a single Premier League match. The first side to do this was Barnsley in a 3-2 defeat at home to Liverpool in March 1998. The Tykes saw Darren Bernard, Chris Morgan and Darren Sheridan all be sent off and only lost the game via a stoppage-time winner from Steve McManaman, having equalised with nine men in the 85th minute through a Neil Redfearn brace.

In May 1999 West Ham were shown three red cards in what was a nightmare game against Leeds United at the Boleyn Ground, as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink put the Whites in front before Ian Wright was shown red in the 13th minute. Alan Smith put Leeds 2-0 up in the 45th minute before Paulo Di Canio pulled one back for the Hammers, but Shaka Hislop was sent off on the hour mark, giving away a penalty that Ian Harte scored, before Lee Bowyer and Alfe Inge Haaland added to the scoreline. Steve Lomas then became the third player to be sent off in the match with four minutes to go in what was a miserable night for Harry Redknapp’s side.

The last time that three red cards were given to the same team in a match was perhaps the most notable, as Newcastle lost 3-0 to Aston Villa at St James’ Park under Graeme Souness. Villa were already leading 1-0 via a Juan Pablo Angel goal after four minutes before Steven Taylor handballed a goal-bound effort off the line in the 72nd minute which saw him sent off and Gareth Barry convert the penalty. Barry then went on to score his second penalty of the game with just 10 minutes to go, before tempers flared, as Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer started to fight each other on the pitch, seeing them both sent off in perhaps the most foolish manner of them all.

The most possession in a single Premier League game unsurprisingly involves Manchester City who had 83% in their 5-0 victory over Swansea in April 2018 at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side completed 1015 passes, which is the most in the history of a single Premier League match. To put this into perspective, in the 2018 World Cup, when Russia beat Spain on penalties, the Spaniards registered 770 passes in normal time and only ticked past the 1,000 mark after extra time. City’s average passes per 90 minutes against Swansea is just over 11 per 60 seconds, obviously added time isn’t included in that.

City are in the top three for the highest amounts of possession per game, as they managed 82% in a 3-1 victory away at Everton in March 2018 which set up that famous derby game against United where they fluffed their chances at winning the title against their bitter rivals. The second highest possession percentage in Premier League history came in City’s famous 3-2 win at home to QPR under Roberto Mancini as the visitors defended for their lives due to Joey Barton’s sending off before Aguero scored that ‘93:20’ goal to win City their first league title since 1968 in the 2011/12 campaign.