5 of the longest Premier League matches
It is unusual for a league match to cross 100 minutes of play, which happens if there are 10 minutes or more of added time. This generally happens when there is a severe injury on the pitch and play comes to an absolute standstill.
In fact league matches of 100 minutes or more are quite rare and happen few and far in between. This weekend, however, saw the Everton-Watford fixture at Goodison Park extend to 102 minutes and a few seconds of play. The match witnessed a lot of drama and is probably a contender for the most exciting match of the season.
In this list, we take a look at some of the longest ever matches in the Premier League:
#5 Manchester City 3-0 West Ham United, 23rd August 2008 (100 minutes)
In 2008 -- the early days of the Sheikh Mansour era -- Manchester City hosted West Ham United and were favourites for the game. There was no anti-climax as it turned out to be a comfortable victory for the Sky Blues.
City thoroughly dominated this game against the East London side and were in complete control of most parts of the match.
This game, in all honesty, was neither a great match-up nor a great entertainer. At the end of the day, it simply helped City kick-start their season with a solid win. City keeper Joe Hart had nothing much to do for the ninety minutes.
West Ham had a splendid chance with Matthew Etherington and Julian Faubert on the counter but the two failed to link up giving City the chance to close out the game easily. The game was extended, unusually, because of an injury to Manchester City defender Micah Richards, who was treated on the pitch for around eight minutes because of a head collision with Ben-Haim.
Robert Green, the West Ham shot-stopper, did thwart a few chances but such was the hosts' domination that they still managed a convincing win.
Ten minutes of injury time in the second half took to match to a hundred minutes, but there was little excitement to speak off in the match, as Manchester City eventually wrapped up an important 3-0 victory.