A run-through of the fifty most shocking moments in the history of the Premier League, with plenty of controversial highlights brought by none other than Luis Suarez, Eric Cantona, Sergio Aguero and more…
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50) Rio Ferdinand hit by a coin – After celebrating a late winner for Manchester United against Manchester City in the 2012/13 season, Ferdinand found blood streaming down his face after a coin thrown from a member of the Etihad Stadium crowd.
49) Sol Campbell’s half-time walk-out – Trailing 2-1 at home to West Ham United, with Campbell at fault for both goals, the legendary defender had a rare moment of madness and left the game at half time. Arsenal went on to lose 3-2.
48) Wayne Rooney swears into the camera – Celebrating a stunning comeback away to West Ham, Rooney lost his head and audibly launched a tirade of swear words into everyone’s television screens!
47) QPR players fighting their own fans – After a 2-1 defeat to Burnley this season, QPR continued their awful away form and found themselves in a confrontation with supporters after the game.
46) Nicolas Anelka’s ‘quenelle’ – Sacked by West Brom for this anti-semitic gesture, Anelka marred a fine Premier League career with this moment of stupidity, for which he never truly apologised.
44) Alan Pardew calls Manuel Pellegrini a c*** – In an unbelievable rant from former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, the c-word was evidently uttered on camera without too much lip reading skill needed.
43) Manic Temuri Ketsbaia celebration – One from all the way back in 1998, angered by being left out of the Newcastle team, the Georgian tore off his shirt and kicked some advertising hoardings after scoring a late goal for his side as a sub.
42) Spitting row from this season – An ugly incident involving Manchester United’s Jonny Evans and Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse, who were both found guilty of spitting in this on-pitch argument.
41) Emmanuel Eboue’s AWFUL cameo – Booed off by his own fans as he was a subbed substitute, Eboue put in a shocking cameo for Arsenal in 2008, tackling his own team-mate and giving away the ball on multiple occasions. He left the pitch in tears.
39) Steve Bruce’s late double – The comeback that coined the phrase ‘Fergie time’, Bruce scored two late goals including one in a seven-minute addition of stoppage time to help beat Sheffield Wednesday as Manchester United won their first Premier League title.
38) Why always me? – An iconic celebration in a huge game – Mario Balotelli opened the scoring for Manchester City and lifted his shirt to reveal this message in a stunning 6-1 win for City against United at Old Trafford.
37) Arsene Wenger attacks Alan Pardew – In a rare moment of madness from the Arsenal boss, Wenger lost his cool here as his side conceded a late winner to Pardew’s West Ham back in 2006, approaching his opponent with true anger in his eyes as a shouting match ensued.
36) Leicester boss tries to strangle a player – One from this season, Nigel Pearson lost it on the touchline as he put both hands around James McArthur’s neck.
34) Arsenal have wrong player sent off – In a case of mistaken identity, Kieran Gibbs received a red card for Arsenal against Chelsea last season, when it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who’d committed the foul.
33) Goal from a throw-in – In an awful moment for Aston Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckleman, his miscontrol from a team-mate’s throw allowed the ball to trickle into the net in a 3-0 defeat to Birmingham City.
32) Aaron Ramsey’s leg break – A horrible moment to witness in Arsenal’s game at Stoke City in 2010, Ramsey had his leg broken after a horror challenge from Ryan Shawcross that could have ended his career.
31) Everton legend strangles opponent – A terrifying moment from Duncan Ferguson in 2004, gripping the throat of Leicester’s Steffan Freund before unsurprisingly being given his marching orders.
29) Worst penalty of all time? – A rare moment of calamity between two superb players, Thierry Henry and Robert Pires attempted a cheeky penalty when only 1-0 up against Manchester City in 2005, getting it horribly wrong as Pires trod on the ball when trying to pass to his colleague.
28) Steven Gerrard’s 38-second red card – One that will still be fresh in the memory as Liverpool star Steven Gerrard got himself sent off after just 38 seconds when brought on as a substitute in last week’s defeat to Manchester United.
27) Student wins himself a Premier League deal – The famous case of Ali Dia, who faked a recommendation from legend George Weah to earn a contract with Southampton, making just one brief appearance before being found out.
26) William Gallas’ strop – Made Arsenal captain in 2007, Gallas showed he was the wrong man for the job with a petty response to conceding a last-minute penalty away to Birmingham in a game that ultimately looked to cost the Gunners the title.
24) Joey Barton loses it – Sent off against his old club Manchester City on the final day of the 2011/12 season, Barton kicked out at Sergio Aguero and tried to fight everyone in sight before eventually being escourted off the pitch.
23) Keane and Vieira in the tunnel – One of many face-offs between the pair, this one was perhaps the best as the fighting started before the match between Arsenal and Man United in 2005 had even kicked off!
22) Robbie Fowler’s homophobic abuse – Aimed at Chelsea’s Graeme Le Saux after rumours about his sexuality, Liverpool legend Fowler showed an ugly side to his personality by inviting the defender to “Come and give me one up the a***!”
21) Kevin Keegan’s amazing rant – A legendary moment as the former Newcastle boss well and truly lost his mind games battle against Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson, and eventually blowing a 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
19) Martin Keown goes mental – Celebrating Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penalty miss in a game against Manchester United, Arsenal legend Keown screamed in the face of the Dutch striker, prompting a huge brawl and several suspensions.
18) Disgusting elbow attack – A very delibirate attack by former Manchester City defender Ben Thatcher in 2006, who elbowed Portsmouth star Pedro Mendes and knocked him unconscious on the pitch.
17) Phil Brown’s on-pitch team-talk – Later mocked by Jimmy Bullard, Phil Brown made a bit of a fool of himself with this ill-advised on-pitch team-talk for Hull City against Manchester City in 2008.
16) Emmanuel Adebayor’s celebration – Truly rubbing it into the face of his old fans, Adebayor ran the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal after scoring for Manchester City against Arsenal.
14) Nazi salute – former goalkeeper Marko Bosnich appeared to taunt Tottenham fans with a Nazi salute in a game at White Hart Lane in 1996, later apologising and claiming he didn’t know about the club’s strong Jewish following.
13) Beach ball goal – Playing for Sunderland at the time, Darren Bent scored a winner against Liverpool with the help of a beach ball that got onto the pitch, deflecting the shot past Pepe Reina.
12) THAT slip – A moment that will define Steven Gerrard’s career forever, his slip that allowed Demba Ba to score for Chelsea against Liverpool was probably the moment that cost the Reds a long-awaited title win last season.
11) Suarez vs Evra – One of many unfortunate incidents involving ex-Liverpool star Luis Suarez, who racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in 2011.
9) ‘Pizzagate’ – An Arsenal player, believed to have been Cesc Fabregas, threw a pizza at Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson after a 2004 defeat at Old Trafford that controversially ended the Gunners’ 49-game unbeaten run.
8) Fight between team-mates – A ridiculous incident involving Newcastle pair Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer back in 2005, with the two needing to be seperated after an exchange of words got out of hand.
7) Most dramatic title win ever – A recent memory but undoubtedly one of the best as Sergio Aguero scored in stoppage time to make it 3-2 to Manchester City against Queens Park Rangers to win the Premier League title on goal difference. Amazing scenes.
6) Pardew headbutts a player – Another one from just last season, Alan Pardew this time got in trouble for headbutting opposition player David Meyler on the touchline. Anger management clearly needed for Alan?
4) Roy Keane gets revenge – One of the most shocking incidents of the Manchester United legend’s career – which is saying something – as he deliberately injured opponent Alf-Inge Haaland in 2001 after the player accused him of faking injury a few years earlier.
3) Paolo Di Canio’s rage goes out of control – For an incident he wasn’t even involved in to begin with, Di Canio got himself sent off for a bizarre attack on two Arsenal players and the referee when playing for Sheffield Wednesday in 1998.
2) Luis Suarez bites Branislav Ivanovic – In a mad game, Suarez produced a crazy moment that would prove to haunt him again as he bit into the shoulder of Chelsea defender Ivanovic, somehow escaping a red before going on to score a late equaliser against the Blues.
1) Eric Cantona’s kung-fu kick – Having been abused by a Crystal Palace fan throughout the game, Eric Cantona picked up a nine-month ban for a kung-fu kick on the supporter, something he admits he wished he’d done even harder!
List via the Daily Mail.