The derby to end all derbys?

The derby to end all derbys?

By
Jon Date
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With a red card, plenty of action, six people arrested, a one man pitch invasion before the game and long fan debates on social media after the final whistle, its easy to say that Sunday’s derby between Nottingham Forest and Derby County was another entertaining game from a neutral perspective, although it was marred by allegations of coin throwing.

However, on a weekend of derbys through the footballing fixture list, how does the East Midlands grudge match compare?

Hibs Vs Hearts

The first match of the fixtures, the Edinburgh derby between Hibernian and Heart Of Midlothian is a hotly contested one, with the first match taking place in 1875. This most recent addition saw Hibernian run out 2-0 winners, with goals from Scott Allan and Jamie Maclaren. Hearts boss Craig Levin was left with egg on his face as Hibs fans unfurled a banner saying that the ‘natural order’ had been restored- a jibe Levin himself had said to Hibernian fans after Hearts had triumphed in the last meeting, earlier this season.

Aston Villa Vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Whilst cross city rivals Birmingham city may be Villa’s biggest derby, no team in the Midlands passes up the chance for a fiery, competitive match and Wolverhampton Wanderers are no different. To add to the tensions, Wolves currently lead the Championship, with third place Villa following them in hot pursuit. So this was a match that could decide the division, three valuable points that both teams needed. But despite Wolverhampton’s dominance in the league, having led since early December, Villa cruised to a 4-1 win.

Manchester United Vs Liverpool

Heavyweights of both English and European football, United and Liverpool is a rivalry that will never die down and with both sides boasting millions of fans across the world, it sure is not a quiet one. With both sides sitting at the top of the Premiership, and looking to guarantee Champions League football for next season this weekend’s clash was heated to say the least. A Marcus Rashford double for the Red Devils saw them overcome Liverpool 2-1, however in the aftermath of the game, the former Liverpool player turned pundit Jamie Carragher was filmed spitting at a girl after being taunted about the score, with the centre back apologising hours later.

Rangers Vs Celtic

The Old Firm, one of the classic derby matches, seeing the green and white hoops of Celtic showdown against the blue of Rangers. Glasgow’s biggest game (and arguably Scotland’s) sees the two biggest teams face-off, with the winner normally going on to win the title and has often been marred by violence as passions rise, but has always led to some entertaining matches, with this year’s being no exception. Despite falling behind twice and having a man sent off, Celtic managed to win 3-2, giving themselves a nine point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

PAOK Vs AEK Athens

However, no matter what else happened, it’s this fixture at the top of the Greek Super Liga that wins. Third-placed PAOK were looking to close the gap between themselves and league leaders, and that day’s opponents, AEK Athens. Scoring in the 89th minute, it seemed as if PAOK had done it.

Only for the referee to rule it out for offside…

We’ll let you be the judge.

The usual scrum of players ensues, all trying to mob the officials to persuade them, only for PAOK’s owner, Ivan Savvidis to storm to the pitch in protest, flanked by his bodyguards. After being removed from the pitch a few minutes later, he immediately raced back on, throwing off his jacket to reveal that he had a pistol holstered to his hip.

Yikes…

The game was abandoned and it’s still not clear what the result will be rewarded as. To add to this, the Greek FA has suspended the league indefinitely as they investigate.

Now that’s a wild derby match!
 

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