10 Most Dramatic Late Winners In Domestic English Football

For football fans of all persuasions, there are few greater joys out there than a dramatic last minute goal in your side's favour. Whether it’s sealing a hard-fought win or grabbing a much-needed point, a goal is made all the more powerful when it arrives so late it leaves little or no time for a reply.

There’s a great sense of finality about a late goal, as if in that one brief moment, all the good work done by the opposition is rendered utterly worthless. It’s for this very reason that the dramatic late goal is also one of the most gutting moments for any football fan when it occurs against your team. Go a goal down with say fifteen minutes to go and you have plenty of time to stage a fight back or at least in the back of your mind come to terms with the inevitable.

Concede an important goal from around 88 minutes onwards though and it’s like a dagger to the heart. You see your team's players standing bereft with hands on heads, your keeper boots the ball into the back of the net out of sheer frustration, the tell-tale click-clack sound of seats being abandoned fills your ears and worst of all the opposition fans are all going absolutely ballistic down the other end. Sickening.

It’s a moment that spreads joy and despair like few others in football and the English domestic game has been blessed with some prime examples over the years:

The prospect of the 2013 FA Cup Final didn’t exactly set pulses racing as Manchester City, flying high in the Premier League and guaranteed Champions League football, faced lowly Wigan who were busy fighting for their Premier League survival. A routine walk-over was almost seen as a foregone conclusion.

Far from being a one-sided affair however, the game proved to be a surprisingly even encounter. When Pablo Zabaleta was given his marching orders in the 84th minute, the balance shifted even further and a potential upset suddenly seemed increasingly likely.

Wigan midfielder Ben Watson had broken his leg just six months prior to the final and wasn't exactly renowned for his goalscoring prowess. When he came on as sub in the 82nd minute therefore, few honestly anticipated him having that much of a telling impact on the game's scoreline.

However, in the 91st minute Wigan won themselves a late corner and the City defence was rocking. The ball was whipped in, Watson timed his near post run to perfection and he powerfully glanced the ball over a full-stretch Joe Hart to become the most unexpected of heroes.

Thanks to Watson's goal, Wigan pulled off perhaps the biggest underdog FA Cup final win since Wimbledon beat Liverpool in 1988. They would unfortunately go on to become the only team to both win an FA Cup and get relegated in the same season, but while getting relegated is never enjoyable, a last ditch unexpected cup win is sure to soften the blow at least slightly.