The greatest Newcastle comebacks

Newcastle are no stranger to incredible comebacks. In fact, I’d wager that The Magpies can boast more late fightbacks than most teams that have frequented the Premier League over the last 3 decades or so.

Each of these three Magpie Remontadas were sure to have had great odds on in-play betting sites at the time; none more so than the first Herculean effort of the Podium.

Leeds 3-4 Newcastle – 2001/02

An edge-of-your-seat thriller at the top of the table,  both sides looked to put themselves in pole position with a win.

Newcastle opened the scoring, thanks to a Craig Bellamy opener. But things would soon take a bad turn for the buoyant travelling Toon Army.

Lee Bowyer, poked home after beating the last defender to restore parity, only a minute later, taking the wind out of Geordie sails.

It was an absolute collapse after half-time, as Australian duo Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell put Leeds 3-1 ahead by the 56th-minute mark.

Robbie Elliott’s head quickly restored hope of remaining top just 3 minutes later, before a Shearer penalty levelled the game.

It took a piece of magic from the indomitable Peruvian, Nobby Solano, to find a winner.

Weaving through the Leeds defence, he kept his cool and brilliantly slotted past Nigel Martyn, with practically the last kick of the game, sending Newcastle fans into absolute pandemonium.

Arsenal 4 Newcastle 4 – 2010/11

A Comeback so great we even listed it finished second in ‘Match of the Day’s Top 10 Comebacks’. The game has ascended to reach the annulus of Premier League’s most iconic matches.

The legendary turnaround of a 4-goal deficit against Arsenal in 2011 has become part of Newcastle folklore, despite The Toon’s hard work only reaping a single point.

3-0 down after just 10 minutes, Van Persie’s second of the game on the 26th-minute mark looked to have put the game to bed.

But, as the second half commenced, it was as if the players had been replaced with far better doppelgangers.

While the side’s renewed sense of vigour gave the lads a chance, it was a rash and silly loss of temper from Arsenal midfielder Diaby that sent Arsenal into disarray.

The Midfielder lost his head after a 50/50 with Joey Barton, seeing red in more ways than one just 5 minutes after the restart.

It started with a Newcastle penalty, duly converted by Barton himself, after Leon Best was brought down by Koscielny.

Then, Best had another chance, this time able to make a connection, as he rose highest to power home a header. 4-2, and with 15 minutes to play against 10 men, there was everything to play for.

Another sloppy challenge from Koscielny saw Barton convert another penalty in the 83rd minute before a cult hero would immortalise himself with a rasping volley, as Chieck Tiote captured the hearts of football fans, snatching a precious point.

Tiote would sadly pass away just 6 years later at the age of 30, but will always be remembered fondly by the Newcastle faithful.

Newcastle 4-3 Leicester – 1996/97

Despite establishing an early lead, and going in at the break 1-0 up, Kenny Dalglish’s Newcastle were soon stunned by three goals in the space of 13 minutes as Matt Elliott, Steve Claridge and Emile Heskey put Leicester 3-1 ahead.

It had all gone pear-shaped, with The Magpies struggling to regain a foothold in the game, up until the 78th minute, when a free-kick was awarded on the edge of the area.

There was only one choice to take it.

Alan Shearer unleashed a furious drive, beating the keeper and wall for sheer power, with a shot that was, in his own words, “160 Miles Per Hour”.

6 minutes later, a well-worked attack found Shearer, who poked home past a hapless Kasey Keller.

Leicester were at panic stations. After the equalizer, they looked desperate to settle for a point.

But Newcastle were strutting their stuff…

A poor throw-in gifted The Magpies possession, before a brilliant passing exchange left Rob Lee close to the by-line to square it across, for Alan Shearer to nick the win and a hat-trick with the last kick of the game.