Which Footballers Have Scored The Majority of Their Professional Goals in a Solitary Game?
Recently, Jeremy Ngakia scored twice for his club against Oxford to take his career goals total to three from 116 professional matches,” asks a curious fan. “Excluding players who scored only once, is there anyone with 100+ appearances achieved a greater proportion of their total goals in a one game?”
Denis Boone writes in with the story of Matthieu Chalmé. “Defender Matthieu Chalmé appeared in 362 games during his playing days, mostly for Bordeaux and Lille,” he explains. “He netted four goals in total, with a hat-trick scored during a solitary match. He scored all three in Lille’s 3-0 win at Ajaccio in 2004, recording the surprising of three-goal hauls.”
Those three well-taken goals in Ajaccio were the only ones Chalmé managed in 179 games for Lille, while in 167 matches with Bordeaux, he scored once. Well, twice if you count his self-scored goal in the 2010 League Cup final against Olympique Marseille. Scoring 75% of his career goals in one game takes Chalmé past Ngakia’s percentage (two-thirds), but there’s a complication.
Chalmé retired at Bordeaux in 2014 after a temporary move at Ajaccio, who presumably recalled his short burst of form a decade earlier. He came back to the game with amateur team his local club, playing seven games in six months – and netting once. This reduces his ratio of goals in one match down to 60%, but it feels harsh to count against him for a post-retirement jaunt at semi-professional level.
A brief note, too, for another French full-back: the legendary Thuram. Although the query relates to professional club play, many readers emailed in to point out that Thuram made 142 international caps and netted twice in the same match – the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Croatia. Look, when you’re hot, you’re hot.
Players Defying Managers: Continued
Previously in this series we looked at players who defied their managers’ instructions. There are some more great stories, so let’s reopen the Insubordination Files for a second look.
Spurs vs City, Cup semi-final, 1955-56
“The Spurs captain, Danny Blanchflower, altered tactics to the side during the FA Cup semi-final against City while they were a goal down,” writes a correspondent. “Switching Maurice Norman from defense to attack, Spurs still lost and the coach, Jimmy Anderson [no relation], dropped Blanchflower for the next match and removed him of the captaincy. Soon after Anderson was out, Nicholson took over, Blanchflower was reinstated and the rest is history.”
England vs Albania, World Cup 1990 qualifier, April 1989
Another fan points out: “Gazza scored his first England goal in this victory at the national stadium after roaming everywhere’, as per coach Robson. The post-match interview are priceless – a wonderful mixture of frustration, sarcasm and fatherly pride.”
Everton v Tottenham, FA Cup semi-final, 1994-95
“Everton’s last major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup, and it couldn’t have happened without a key figure,” begins Jim Hearson. “Manager Joe Royle? No. Goalscorer in the final, Paul Rideout? Close, but no. Goalkeeping colossus Southall? Not him. That man was unpredictable forward Daniel Amokachi, who substituted himself on during the semi-final against Spurs, scoring twice to secure Everton a spot in the final against Manchester United.”
Recounting the story to the BBC, the striker said: “Rideout got a knock and fell ... I just approached Willie Donachie and told him ‘The gaffer says you need me on’.” The manager was rightly angry at the moment, but more forgiving at the final whistle: “He came into the locker room and embraced me, shook my hand and said: ‘Well done, son, but never try that again.’”
Sporting vs Barça, Champions League group stage, 2008-09
During his time with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona against Sporting Lisbon, Henry took it upon himself to change flanks. He quickly scored to ensure Barça went in 1-0 up at half-time. Guardiola’s reaction? He substituted Henry for ignoring his instructions.”
Free-kick flurries
“Being a Hammers supporter, I’m often looking back at past seasons for positive memories,” weeps a fan. “Upon reviewing, I noticed that Payet netted six set-pieces in the 18 cherished months that we enjoyed him. I’m curious if there is a more productive free-kick taker in a comparable span?”
One comes to mind: David Beckham scored 27 free-kicks in his spell with United, including eight in as many months between 2000. His best period at the club includes the identical timeframe: from 1999-2000, he scored 10 direct-free-kicks – including two raspers against the Hammers. Sorry, Liam.
For consolation, there’s a player now at West Ham who can better Payet’s statistics: James Ward-Prowse. The dead-ball specialist enjoyed two purple patches with Southampton, scoring seven free kicks between November 2019 and February 2021 across two Covid-affected seasons. He then hit another six superb free-kicks in a 10-month spell between 2022-2023.
Historical Trivia
“A friend who follows Southend claims the club once featured in a league match at Wembley? Is he having me on?” asked a reader in April 2012.
Surprisingly, he was correct. The team were one of two teams – the Bees being the second – to play against Orient in the third tier at Wembley back in 1930, owing to ground improvement work at their home ground. Their official website explain further:
After a game against Torquay United (a victory for Orient), officials from the Devon club objected to the boundary fence being too near to the pitch. League officials was requested to inspect the ground and agreed that changes were needed before further matches could take place; abruptly the Orient found themselves without a stadium. Hard to believe, Wembley was proposed and the O’s actually hosted two matches in that year against Brentford and Southend United, winning 3-0 and 3-1 respectively. To this day the club is the sole league team to have hosted matches at Wembley Stadium!
Since then of course, Spurs joined Orient in becoming residents at Wembley, albeit in the top flight. In recent weeks, talk of Arsenal renovating their stadium – and moving to the national stadium while the construction occurs – has surfaced.
Your Input Needed
“Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted four times and was red-carded in Gabon’s victory over Gambia last week,” notes Seb in Berlin. “Which other players have been dismissed after scoring at least three goals?”
“During Austria’s huge win of the minnows, every outfield player who started got a goal, an assist or both,” queries another correspondent. “Has any other team managed this?”
“Among all footballers who have a monument at their club’s stadium of their former club, who played the fewest games for that team?” asks Masai Graham.
“Remarkably, Tomasson is the first manager to be fired by {Sw
