This afternoon Manchester City and Liverpool meet for round two after last week’s 2-2 top-of-the-table Premier League clash. That was a huge game, but it didn’t decisively end either the Quad or the Treble. This one, in the FA Cup, will by definition bring one of those to an end. And the third as yet unconfirmed instalment a month from now would be the Champions League final. Also quite a big game. Three big games, is what we’re saying here.
“But what about other teams who’ve played each other a whole bunch of times in quick succession?” we hear you ask. “Are there any interesting such tales in the annals of football history?” Let’s find out.
1998/99: Tottenham and Wimbledon
Let’s start with a classic rivalry. We’ve all got our favourite memories of Spurs v Wimbledon, I’m sure. But when the two teams met on the opening day of the season in August 1998 – in itself just a few short summer months on from Jurgen Klinsmann netting four in a relegation-dodging 6-2 win for Spurs at Selhurst Park – nobody could have known that this would turn out to be the first instalment of a six-chapter entry into this great old rivalry.
Wimbledon ran out 3-1 winners that day thanks to Robbie Earle and an Efan Ekoku double. But that was as good as it got for the Dons against Spurs, who definitely had the better of the FIVE games the two sides played against each other in the space of a month in early 1999.
The first three were played back to back in the space of 12 January days and all ended in draws. Goalless affairs in the league and League Cup semi-final first leg were sandwiched by a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup fourth round.
But when January ticked over to February, Spurs took control. They won the FA Cup replay 3-0 at the Lane, officially thanks to Andy Sinton’s early goal followed by a double for Allan Nielsen after the break but we suspect in fact because Wimbledon simply forfeited and didn’t turn up out of sheer boredom. It’s a result that…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…