The late, late goal

Wednesday, 28/09/2011

by Tom Seymour

The games that kicked off at 7.45pm last night were drawing to a close at around 9.30pm.

This included the Champion’s League adventures of both Manchester clubs and a host of Championship fixtures.

As the clock drew nearer to 90 minutes, the nail-biting moment occurred when the fourth official raised the board to show the added minutes. In close fought matches these numbers are excruciatingly tense for the fans and staff alike. They have to watch on for a few more minutes, hoping their team can either hold on to the victory, or snatch a last gasp equaliser or winner.

So as 90 minutes approached, the first ground that involved a ‘looking through fingers moment’ was at the Amex stadium in Brighton. Brighton had led the game 1-0 until Crystal Palace equalised on 80 minutes.

As it drew to a close, the momentum was clearly with the Eagles as Darren Ambrose netted on 89 minutes; swiftly followed by a third goal from Glenn Murray with 91 minutes gone. It was heart-wrenching stuff for the Brighton fans, but if they could take any consolation, it was that many fans suffered the wrath of the late goal last night.

Further North in Manchester, the Red Devils were making hard work of their second Champion’s League group game, against Basel. A quick fire double from Danny Welbeck had put them 2-0 up at half-time. However some poor defending and sloppy passing had let the Swiss team back into the game and as the match drew to a close United trailed 2-3.

Luckily for them, as is often the case at the Theatre of Dreams, it wasn’t over just yet and on the stroke of 90 minutes, Ashley Young headed in at the far post to level the match.

Returning to the Championship, the 90+ goals were far from over. Coventry led Blackpool at the Ricoh Arena 2-1 and Bristol City and Portsmouth were holding onto 2-2 draws, against Reading and Peterborough respectively.

A win for Coventry would have been greatly appreciated by the fans, as it would have lifted them well clear of the relegation zone. But on 92 minutes, long-serving Blackpool midfielder Keith Southern, popped up with a header from a corner, to level the game and ruin the the Sky Blues’ party.

Down in the West Country, it was the turn of Bristol City to feel the heartache of conceding a late goal. Like Coventry, a win was vital for Bristol City to drag them out of the relegation zone and when they led 2-0 after 59 minutes, it was looking good.

But McAnuff and Le Fondre levelled the match for Reading and on 94 minutes, Mathieu Manset grabbed an agonizing winner.

It was left even later on the South Coast, as Portsmouth conceded in the 95th minute, to lose to Peterborough 2-3. To make matters worse, it was Pompey striker Erik Huseklepp who slid in to block a cross and diverted the ball past his own keeper.

Football can be a cruel game.

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