'Wins like this are rare' - the best EFL comebacks

Southampton's astonishing comeback from 3-0 down to beat Leicester City 4-3 in the Championship reminded us all of the euphoria and agony this sport can deliver.

"It is tough to find the right words for this game," Saints head coach Tonda Eckert told BBC Radio Solent after the dramatic victory at the King Power Stadium. "You don't have many nights like this."

Eckert is right about the rarity of such an occasion.

It is the first time in 16 years any team has come from three goals down to win a game in the Championship - and just the eighth time across the entire EFL since it was rebranded in 2004.

With that in mind, let's cast a nostalgic eye over some of the best comeback wins in EFL history.

Let us start with Tuesday night's classic.

Southampton may feel they have finally exacted the perfect revenge for that humiliating 9-0 defeat at the hands of Leicester City in October 2019 in which the Foxes equalled the record for the biggest Premier League win.

Leicester fans were keen to remind the travelling Saints following of that miserable night when they flew into a 3-0 lead inside 29 minutes thanks to goals from Divine Mukasa, Patson Daka and Abdul Fatawu, as they chanted "we want nine".

Oh, how it would come back to bite them.

Ross Stewart pulled back what looked to be a mere consolation in the 61st minute with a clever flicked finish.

But the moment Jack Stephens rifled into the roof of the net to make it 3-2, the King Power seemed to sense what was coming.

It was the start of a devastating final 14 minutes for Eckert's side with Ryan Manning nodding in the equaliser in the 86th minute before Shea Charles sumptuously curled in a winner with almost the last kick of the game to leave the Foxes lingering dangerously close to the Championship relegation zone.

This might just be the most memorable of the lot, given what was at stake in the League One play-off semi-final in May 2023.

Peterborough are the only side since 2004 to come from four goals down to avoid defeat in a single EFL game when they rescued a 4-4 draw at home to Cardiff in December 2009.

But they were handed a brutal dose of their own medicine a little over 13 years later.

Having trailed the Posh 4-0 from the first leg, Sheffield Wednesday pulled off what later became known as 'the Miracle of Hillsborough'.

The Owls fought valiantly to lead 3-0 in the second leg but with just seconds of stoppage time to play, their Wembley dream was fading. Up stepped Liam Palmer with a 98th-minute goal to force extra time.

Lee Gregory's own goal looked to have spared Peterborough's blushes when he made it 4-1 in the 105th minute, but Callum Paterson popped up with another to make it 5-1 seven minutes later, and 5-5 on aggregate.

Posh full-back Daniel Butler was the only player to miss a spot-kick in the shootout, with Jack Hunt sticking away the winning penalty for Wednesday to record the greatest comeback in play-off history.

For all its highs, playing football can also be pretty unenjoyable at times. For example, if you are losing 5-1 and a man down with 27 minutes remaining, you could be forgiven for somewhat throwing in the towel.

That was the situation Charlton Athletic were faced with against a Huddersfield Town side led by Bill Shankly at The Valley in the Second Division (now the Championship) four days before Christmas in 1957.

Addicks captain Derek Ufton had been forced off with a dislocated shoulder in the opening stages with the score at 0-0 and taken to hospital for surgery.

With no substitutes in those days, Charlton played on with 10 men and were on track for a hiding as they trailed by four goals.

Some of the 12,535 crowd had already made an early exit. What happened next borders on inconceivable.

John Ryan and Johnny Summers scored in quick succession for the hosts to reduce the deficit to 5-3 by the 64th minute.

Summers then completed his hat-trick in the 73rd minute for 5-4 before netting his fourth to bring the scores level at 5-5 five minutes later.

With 12 minutes still to play, the drama was not over. Summers scored his fifth and Charlton's sixth to lead 6-5 in the 81st minute.

Done and dusted? Think again. The Terriers equalised through Stan Howard with four minutes on the clock - 6-6.

But in the 89th minute, Ryan sent a Summers cross past goalkeeper Sandy Kennon to seal a mind-blowing 7-6 win.

"The next day, the photographers all came around to my house with a couple of sports writers to get my story," Ufton told Valley Review., external

"Poor old Johnny Summers was the hero and had scored five goals in the game and there I was on Monday morning with my photograph in the paper having missed the match."

Southampton did it on Tuesday night and you have to go back to September 2010 for the last time a team came from three goals down to win in the second tier.

That side was Darren Ferguson's Preston North End at Elland Road.

Leeds United were 4-1 up after 39 minutes and went into the break 4-2 ahead after Jon Parkin scored his second for the Lilywhites just before half-time.

Three goals from Keith Treacy, Callum Davidson and Parkin in an extraordinary 10 minutes then swung the pendulum in Preston's favour.

Iain Hume put the icing on the cake in the 79th minute for a 6-4 win in what remains the joint highest-scoring game in the Championship since 2004.

Cast your mind back to the days of Upton Park and Jermain Defoe playing up front for West Ham United under Alan Pardew in what was then the First Division in November 2003.

A 21-year-old Defoe scored in the first minute against West Bromwich Albion as the Hammers, featuring David James and Michael Carrick, raced into a 3-0 lead inside 18 minutes.

But a Rob Hulse double to make it 3-2 and a red card for Defoe all before the interval gave the Baggies hope of an unthinkable turnaround.

Brian Deane turned through his own net for West Ham midway through the second period to square things up and Lee Hughes was the Albion hero with 13 minutes to play for a 4-3 victory.

Surely not Peterborough United involved again?

Oldham Athletic had won just one of their previous nine League One games and were only a point above the relegation zone when they welcomed the Posh in January 2014.

When the Latics found themselves 3-0 down at half-time, they would have feared the worst.

Gary Harkins and David Worrall reduced the arrears to 3-2 by the 54th minute for Oldham, but Nicky Ajose restored Peterborough's two-goal cushion in the 63rd minute.

James Wesolowski struck for 4-3 five minutes later but as injury time loomed, it looked as though the visitors would hold on for the win.

Oldham had other ideas though as Harkins tucked away a penalty in the 89th minute before Genseric Kusunga scored a dramatic winner five minutes into stoppage time.

The 5-4 victory kickstarted Oldham's quest for survival and they went on to finish 15th.

Southampton and Leeds are no strangers to being involved in dramatic Championship comebacks.

Though on this occasion at a packed out St Mary's in November 2005, the Saints were on the wrong end of it.

As the clock ticked over to the 70th minute, Harry Redknapp's Southampton were 3-0 up thanks to a Marian Parhars header and Nigel Quashie double.

But a four-goal blitz in 15 minutes for Leeds completely flipped the game on its head.

Paul Butler, Robbie Blake and David Healy all netted to bring the Whites back on terms before Liam Miller side-footed in the winner for 4-3 four minutes from time to give Leeds one of their greatest EFL comeback victories.

Aside from those already mentioned, there are only four other games in which a side has come from three goals down to win an EFL game since 2004, according to Opta, with Morecambe featuring twice: