The Premier League is often touted as the best league in the world, the most exciting, the most popular and other similar superlatives. It is undoubtedly the richest football league on the planet and whilst claims it makes for being the best are questionable, it quite probably deserves the tag of being the most exciting.
There are several reasons for that and whilst we do not claim that the English top flight sees an above-average number of late goals, it certainly has its fair share. Some, due to their importance, have become iconic and stick in the mind. One example that springs to mind is Steve Bruce’s late, late goal against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 that helped United end their league title drought. Even more famous than that is Sergio Aguero’s 94th-minute winner against QPR on the final day of the 2011/12 season which meant that they, and not city rivals United, won the PL title.
There have been very late strikes to avoid relegation, to win cup finals (Man United’s Champions League win in 1999 being the obvious example there) and even just to win epic games – Stan Collymore’s winner for Liverpool in the 4-3 thriller with Newcastle in 1996, for example. But our focus here is not so much on goals that necessarily counted a great deal, or were particularly memorable. Instead, we are simply looking at the latest goals to have ever been scored in the Premier League.
Premier League’s Latest Goals
Before we start looking at the strikes which would have been missed by many of the “leaving early to miss the traffic” crowd, a little of what we believe some corporate types call “housekeeping”. First, we are looking at the Premier League era only, so goals only after the 1992 rebrand. However, as records for this stat were only fully, officially recorded by the Premier League from the 2006/07 season onwards, we are, in reality, beginning there. Additionally, these records are correct as of 22rd February 2024.
Second, the first half always counts as 45 minutes, irrespective of how much added time there is. Therefore, a game that has eight minutes of first-half injury time and then a goal in the second minute of second-half stoppage time would be recorded as being scored after 92 minutes, not 100.
Third, it is worth noting how these stats have been, and will be further, skewed by the increased length of injury time. New directives, plus a greater number of substitutes being possible, mean that the Premier League regularly sees added time of six minutes or more, something that in the past would only have occurred if there was a serious injuries or multiple substantial stoppages.
Last of all, we are using the goal times that are officially recorded. So, for example, where a match is suspended (for 10 minutes, or maybe even as much as an hour) due to a major incident either on or off the pitch, this will not impact the lateness of the goal, even if it is scored long after the scheduled final whistle.
| Player | Team | Against | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ollie McBurnie | Sheffield United | West Ham | 102 Minutes 8 Seconds |
| Dirk Kuyt | Liverpool | Arsenal | 101 Minutes 48 Seconds |
| Gabriel Jesus | Arsenal | Man United | 100 Minutes 15 Seconds |
| Leon Bailey | Aston Villa | Crystal Palace | 100 Minutes 9 Seconds |
| Juan Mata | Chelsea | Norwich | 100 Minutes 3 Seconds |
1) Ollie McBurnie, 102 minutes, eight seconds
On the 21st of January 2024 the burly Ollie McBurnie broke a long-standing Premier League record when scoring for Sheffield United against West Ham. His goal, the last in a 2-2 draw, remains the latest goal in PL history. McBurnie moved Dirk Kuyt (see below) off top spot in the late-goal hit parade, a position the Dutchman had held for well over a decade.
As noted, recent rule changes, or rather directives, mean we are seeing more late goals than ever and three of the four latest goals in our list came this year. Eight of the top 10 have come in the 2020s, so whilst we do not have definitive data on the latest goal between 1992/93 and 2005/06, it seems highly likely that McBurnie’s goal is the latest ever bagged in the PL.
The game saw so much second-half injury time due to a combination of events. Six minutes were originally indicated but in stoppage time we saw VAR turn a yellow card into a red, two substitutions, two yellow cards (and thus another red) for Vladimir Coufal, and then a long delay due to an injury to the West Ham keeper.
Alphonse Areola had to be replaced after he got injured conceding a penalty and the first action of his replacement, Lukasz Fabianski, was to pick the ball out of the net. McBurnie rifled the ball into the corner from the spot to nick a point and, for now at least, write his name into the PL record books.
2) Dirk Kuyt, 101 minutes, 48 seconds
Whilst we have seen a glut of late goals in 2023/24 and will surely see more, goals deep, deep in stoppage time are no new thing. Until McBurnie scored against the Hammers, Liverpool’s Kuyt was the late-goal PL supremo thanks to his strike against Arsenal. That came on the 17th of April 2011 and was enough to earn the Kop side a point from a 1-1 draw at the Emirates.
3) Gabriel Jesus, 100 minutes, 15 seconds
Arsenal were on the other side of a late goal just this season, although Jesus’s strike against Man United on the 3rd of September 2023 was not decisive. The Gunners were 2-1 up already when the Brazilian hit United on the counter as the Red Devils chased an equaliser. His calm finish sent the Arsenal faithful home extra happy, especially as they had only made it 2-1 through Declan Rice after 95 minutes and 43 seconds.
4) Leon Bailey, 100 minutes, nine seconds
Just 13 days after Jesus’s late show, Bailey bagged a similar strike against Crystal Palace. The pacy wide man made it 3-1 but as with the Arsenal game, Villa had only led thanks to a stoppage-time strike prior to the gloss being applied.
5) Juan Mata, 100 minutes, three seconds
Back in 2011, when a goal after 100 minutes was a rarity, Spaniard Mata, whose name (sort of!) translates to Jonny Kills, was the second-latest goal in the PL. It came just a few months after Kuyt’s at the start of the following campaign, Mata bagging for Chelsea against Norwich. An injury to Didier Drogba meant 11 added minutes were needed and again this late goal was one that put the game well and truly to bed at 3-1.