How many teams have scored nine goals in a Premier League match?

At the time of writing, no team has scored ten or more goals in a Premier League match, but four teams have scored nine goals and one them has the distinction of having done so twice. That team, Manchester United, also became the first to do so when, on March 4, 1995, they routed Ipswich Town 9-0 at Old Trafford. In the absence of Eric Cantona, suspended after “kung fu” kicking a Crystal Palace fan on January 25, Andew Cole, signed from Newcastle United that same month, scored five goals and was joined on the scoresheet by striking partner Mark Hughes, with a brace, and Roy Keane and Paul Ince, with a goal apiece.

The Red Devils equalled their own, by then joint, record scoreline 26 years later against Southampton at Old Trafford on February 2, 2021, in a match played behind closed doors. Seven different United players found the net, including second-half half substitute Anthony Martial, who scored twice, and Saints’ centre-back Jan Bednarek put through his own goal after 34 minutes to add to the ignominy.

That was, in fact, the second time that Southampton had been drubbed 9-0 in the Premier League, having previously done so against Leicester City at St. Mary’s Stadium on October 25, 2019. Ayoze Pérez Gutiérrez and Jamie Vardy both scored hat-tricks for the visitors on that occasion. Before that, Tottenham Hotspur beat Wigan Athletic 9-1 at White Hart Lane on November 22, 2009, with Jermaine Defoe scoring five goals. More recently, Liverpool equalled the record for the biggest victory in Premier League history with a 9-0 demolition of newly-promoted Bournemouth at Anfield on August 27, 2022.

Who is the most decorated Paralympian in history?

In short, the most decorated Paralympian in history is American swimmer Trischa Zorn-Hudson who, between 1980 and 2004, won 55 medals which, at the time of writing, leaves her 25 ahead of her nearest rivals, multi-talented Israeli athlete Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum and Swedish sport shooter Jonas Jacobsson, in the all-time list. All told, Zorn-Hudson competed at seven consecutive Paralympic Games – Arnhem (1980), New York (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996),Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004) – and amassed a haul of 41 gold, nine silver and five bronze medals.

Born in Orange, California on June 1, 1964 and blind from birth, as the result of a rare genetic eye disorder, known as aniridia, Zorn-Hudson competed in the S12, SB12, and SM12 disability categories. Aniridia results in the coloured part of the eye, or iris, being underdeveloped or missing altogether and, almost invariably, other parts of the eye being underdeveloped.

At her inaugural Paralympics, in Arnhem, Netherlands, at the age of 16, she won seven gold medals and in New York four years later she won another six. For all her success elsewhere, it was the final medal of her career, a bronze behind Zhu Hong Yan of China and Patrycja Ewelina Harajda of Poland in the S12 100-metre backstroke event in the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre on September 25, 2004, was the one she described as “most significant medal I won”. Her mother, Donna, had died from breast cancer the previous June and, aside from winning the medal she had hoped for, Zorn-Hudson also carried the American flag in the closing ceremony as, she said, “a tribute to my mom.”

Where, and when did Antonin Panenka score his signature penalty?

In his heyday, Antonin Panenka was an attacking playmaker renowned for the quality of his passing, free kicks and goals, of which he scored 17 goals in 59 games for his native Czechoslovakia. However, for the last five decades or so, any mention of the name ‘Panenka’ has inevitably led to thoughts of the signature penalty that he scored in the final of the UEFA European Football Championship in 1976.

Ironically, the final, between West Germany and Czechoslovakia played at Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, on June 20, 1976 was originally destined to go to a replay, two days later, if the scores remained level after extra time. However, at the behest of the German Football Association, an immediate penalty shootout was introduced at the last minute and the rest, as they say, is history.

A last-minute equaliser from West German winger Bernd Hölzenbein levelled the scores 2-2 and to took the game into extra time. With the deadlock still unbroken after 120 minutes, penalties followed and, ahead with Czechoslovakia leading 4-3, Panenka had the chance to win the match for the rank underdogs.

In an apparently well-rehearsed, but hitherto unnoticed, move, Panenka took a long, fast, uninterrupted run-up but, rather than whacking the ball with his instep, side-footed what was later described as a “falling leaf” chip into the centre of the goal. Goalkeeper Josef Dieter “Sepp” Maier (one of the finest custodians in the history of the game) dived away to his left, to no avail, and Panenka wheeled away, arms aloft, to celebrate his “genius” moment and a 5-3 victory for Czechoslovakia.

In cricket, what’s the record number of runs conceded off a single delivery?

Of course, under normal circumstances, the maximum number of runs that a bowler can concede off a single, legitimate delivery is six. However, the Laws of Cricket, not to mention a variety of abnormal, at times bizarre, circumstances, dictate that the maximum number can be more, every so often many more, than six.

For example, if the ball strikes a protective helmet belonging to the fielding side, a penalty of five runs is awarded to the batting side, while any runs completed, or in progress, if the batters have already crossed at the moment of impact, also count against the bowler. Likewise, a six off a no-ball counts as seven runs and four runs plus four overthrows, if the ball crosses the boundary at the result of misfielding, counts as eight.

The record for number of runs conceded off a single delivery in any form of top level, competitive cricket is, in fact, 20. That unenviable feat was achieved by Hobart Hurricanes’ seamer Clint McKay against Melbourne Stars in a Big Bash League match at Bellerive Oval on January 9, 2012. In pursuit of a Stars’ total of 203/3 over their 20 overs, at a run rate of 10/15, Hurricanes were 0-1 after just two balls when heavy-hitting left-hander Travis Birt came to the crease.

True to form, in the fifth over, with rain clouds looming, Birt set about McKay with gusto. The fourth ball of the over was the first of three consecutive sixes, the last two of which came off no balls, such that the total was effectively 6 + 7 + 7 = 20 off a single delivery. Ironically, Birt played on next ball, having made 51 off 23 balls, and Hobart subsequently collapsed to 184 for 9, thereby losing by 19 runs.

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