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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Guardian sport

What is the heaviest defeat to end a long unbeaten run in football?

Who was in goal when Manchester United shipped five at Stamford Bridge? Ah yes, Massimo Taibi.
Who was in goal when Manchester United shipped five at Stamford Bridge? Ah yes, Massimo Taibi. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/EPA

“Aberdeen were thrashed 6-0 by Celtic in the Scottish League Cup, ending a 16-match unbeaten run under Jimmy Thelin. What’s the heaviest defeat to end an unbeaten run?” asked Matthew Shore last week.

We added the caveat of an unbeaten run of at least 15 games, and Chris Roe got busy crunching the numbers, for English football at least. “There have been 487 instances of unbeaten runs in league fixtures of at least 15 matches in length,” he tells us. “Of those, 290 were ended by a single-goal defeat, and 133 by a two-goal margin.”

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