Two goals down. Liverpool applying pressure in the title race. Forty-five minutes remaining.
Manchester United had been here before against Tottenham.
And once again, they responded by scoring five.
On 25 April 2009, Sir Alex Ferguson’s reigning champions entered the second half at Old Trafford trailing 2-0 to Spurs after goals from Darren Bent and Luka Modrić.
By full-time, United had won 5-2.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice. Wayne Rooney scored twice. Former Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov completed the turnaround.
Seven goals.
One controversial penalty.
And a second-half performance that demonstrated exactly why this United side were closing in on another Premier League title.
Pressure at the top
This wasn’t simply another Saturday at Old Trafford.
The title race was reaching its decisive stage.
Liverpool had beaten Hull City 3-1 earlier in the day and moved above United on goal difference. Victory against Tottenham would put Ferguson’s side back on top, three points clear with a game in hand and five matches remaining.
Then Tottenham threatened to ruin the plan.
Bent opened the scoring after 29 minutes, converting from close range after Rio Ferdinand failed to deal with a cross from Vedran Ćorluka.
Three minutes later, things became considerably worse.
Aaron Lennon attacked down Tottenham’s right before crossing towards the far post.
Modrić was waiting.
2-0 Tottenham.
Old Trafford suddenly had a problem.
Ferguson changes the equation
Ferguson responded at half-time.
Nani came off.
Carlos Tevez came on.
United had Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez on the pitch together.
They needed goals.
What followed was devastating.
But first came the moment that changed everything.
The penalty
In the 57th minute, Michael Carrick burst into the Tottenham penalty area and encountered goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.
Referee Howard Webb awarded United a penalty, a decision described as controversial in contemporary reports, with Tottenham furious that Gomes had been penalised.
Ronaldo didn’t care.
He scored from the spot.
1-2.
United had their lifeline.
Ten minutes later, Tottenham’s lead was gone.
Rooney. Ronaldo. Rooney.
Rooney equalised in the 67th minute.
2-2.
Just one minute later, Ronaldo scored again.
3-2.
United had gone from two goals behind to leading in little more than ten minutes.
And they weren’t finished.
Three minutes after Ronaldo completed the turnaround, Rooney scored his second.
Manchester United 4-2 Tottenham.
Tottenham’s two-goal advantage hadn’t merely disappeared.
United had obliterated it.
Berbatov completes the five
There was something almost inevitable about the identity of United’s final goalscorer.
Berbatov had left Tottenham for Old Trafford the previous summer.
Now, against his former club, he finished the comeback.
The Bulgarian scored in the 79th minute to make it 5-2.
Twenty-two minutes separated United’s first goal from their fifth.
What had looked like a potentially damaging defeat had turned into a statement victory.
2-0 down. Then this happened…
The sequence remains remarkable:
57′ Cristiano Ronaldo (pen)
67′ Wayne Rooney
68′ Cristiano Ronaldo
71′ Wayne Rooney
79′ Dimitar Berbatov
Three goals arrived in five minutes.
Four arrived within 14.
Five arrived before Tottenham could reach the 80th minute.
This wasn’t simply a comeback.
Once United accelerated, it became an avalanche.
Four forwards, one objective
The second half also provided a glimpse of the outrageous attacking resources available to Ferguson.
Rooney.
Ronaldo.
Berbatov.
Tevez.
All four shared the Old Trafford pitch after the half-time substitution.
Behind them stood a side packed with experience: Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić, Patrice Evra and Edwin van der Sar all started.
It was a team constructed not merely to compete for the Premier League, but for everything.
Another title gets closer
The consequences were significant.
Liverpool’s earlier victory had temporarily put them top of the Premier League.
United’s comeback restored Ferguson’s side to the summit, three points clear with a game in hand and five league fixtures remaining.
United would go on to win the 2008/09 Premier League.
On this particular afternoon, though, that outcome had briefly looked far less comfortable.
At half-time, Tottenham led 2-0.
Then United remembered who they were.
Ronaldo started it.
Rooney turned the match.
Berbatov finished it.
And Old Trafford witnessed another comeback worthy of the Ferguson era.
Two down. Five back.
Tottenham had seen this film before.
Written by Paul
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