Football's biggest top flight wins of the 21st century

Sometimes, the best matches to watch are those tight affairs that finish 2-1, 3-2... that sort of thing. A real, competitive game.

However, sometimes, the most entertaining games are complete maulings, where teams push to smash records and humiliate their opponents en route to reaching double figures. Fortunately for us, there have been plenty of those in the 21st century.

Here are the biggest top-flight victories in major leagues since the turn of the century.

13. Lokomotiv Moscow 9-0 Uralan Elista (03/11/00)

Lokomotiv Moscow had lost their grip on the Premier Liga title when Uralan Elista came to town in November 2000, and they definitely made their frustrations clear.

They were 4-0 up at half time and added another five after the break, with a mixture of Lokomotiv's brilliance and comically poor goalkeeping ensuring the hosts picked up an easy win.

Lokomotiv ended up finishing second in the table, whereas Uralan were dead last with just 12 points (two wins, six draws) from 30 games.

12. Ajax 9-0 Sparta Rotterdam (18/03/01)

The 2000/01 season was a rough one for Sparta Rotterdam, and losing 9-0 to Ajax in March 2001 didn't exactly help.

It was a game which always had the potential to go that way, and when Ajax were 2-0 up after ten minutes, it turned into the worst attempt at damage limitation you've ever seen.

Ajax, whose team featured a young Rafael van der Vaart and future Everton man Andy van der Meyde, were led by Shota Arveladze, who ended with four goals and an assist.

11. Genk 9-0 Mechelen (23/11/02)

Fresh off the back of losing 4-0 to Club Brugge, Genk bounced back with an emphatic victory over Mechelen in November 2002.

It didn't actually look like it was going to be too bad for the visitors. They were only 5-0 down by the time the 75th minute arrived, but they conceded four goals in just nine minutes to seal their fate.

Mechelen goalkeeper Ivan Willockx actually saved a penalty during that hectic spell too, only to see Wesley Sonck fire home from the rebound.

10. RAEC Mons 0-9 Club Brugge (08/05/04)

Club Brugge ended the 2003/04 season on a 16-game unbeaten streak, firing home a whipping 45 goals during that period, and nine of them came away to RAEC Mons.

The hosts were trailing 1-0 when they had a man sent off after 24 minutes, but they managed to only concede one more goal before the break, but that's when things went a little mental.

It was 3-0 in the 52nd minute and 7-0 in the 65th, with Brugge firing home two late goals to match the biggest victory in Pro League history.

9. Heerenveen 9-0 Heracles (07/10/07)

2007/08 Heerenveen were all about goals. They scored no less that 88 in their 34 games that season - Eredivisie winners PSV managed 65 - and their biggest victory came against struggles Heracles.

It was this game that convinced Middlesbrough to splash out on Brazilian striker Afonso Alves, who netted a whopping seven goals in this game, including a handful of great strikes. You can see why Boro were so disappointed when he scored 13 times in two seasons.

Heerenveen went on to beat Vitesse 7-0 later that season, but impressively, that doesn't make it anywhere close to this list.

8. Troyes 0-9 PSG (13/03/16)

Paris Saint-Germain were by far the best team in France by the time the 2015/16 season arrived, so nobody was particularly surprised when they put nine past bottom-side Troyes in March 2016.

Before the Kylian Mbappé and Neymar era, Paris belonged to Zlatan Ibrahimović and Edinson Cavani, who combined to score six of PSG's nine goals that night.

It was only 3-0 at half time, With Cavani scoring once and Ibrahimović goalless after the first 45, but they saved the best for after the break.

7. PSG 9-0 Guingamp (19/01/19)

Three years later, PSG were at it again, and just like in that win over Troyes, it was actually a fairly slow start for the Ligue 1 champions.

Neymar and a double from Mbappé had PSG 3-0 up at half time, but they exploded after the interval. Mbappé and Cavani ended with three, Neymar got two and substitute Thomas Meunier even added a goal of his own.

Somehow, Ángel Di María played in both games and failed to score in either. Impressive.

6. Southampton 0-9 Leicester (25/10/19)

On paper, Leicester's trip to St Mary's to face Southampton looked set to be a low-key affair. The Foxes were heavy favourites and were probably expecting to win by three or four. Nothing too crazy.

Leicester were met by perhaps the tamest team performance in Premier League history as Southampton were ruthlessly picked apart. Ralph Hasenhüttl's side, who had Ryan Bertrand sent off after 12 minutes, looked like they'd never played football before.

Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Pérez both bagged hat-tricks, with Ben Chilwell, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison making up the other three, as Leicester strolled their way into the history books.

5. Manchester United 9-0 Southampton (2/2/21)

Poor Southampton. Little more than a year - on actual Groundhog Day no less - they went and conceded nine again, this time away at Manchester United.

Things got off to the worst possible start for the Saints when Alexandre Jankewitz was sent off less than two minutes into his first Premier League start.

Ralph Hasenhuttl was forced to watch on with a horrible sense of deja vu as Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, a Jan Bednarek own goal and Edinson Cavani made it 4-0 before half time.

Anthony Martial (2), Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and Daniel James continued the party after the break to equal the Premier League's biggest win to date.

4. Sochi 10-1 Rostov (19/06/20)

The wackiest entry on this list by far.

Sochi, who were only founded in 2018, were tenth in the league when they met fourth-placed Rostov in June 2020, yet they emerged with a whopping 10-1 victory.

The reason? Rostov were missing their entire first team and reserve side after players from both squads tested positive for COVID-19, so Rostov had to go with their academy team, with the oldest player being just 19 years old.

Goalkeeper Denis Popov may have conceded ten, but he set a league record by making 15 saves during the game, and he even managed to keep out a penalty!

3. PSV Eindhoven 10-0 Feyenoord (24/10/10)

As was the case with several of the games on this list, PSV's 10-0 win over Feyenoord in October 2010 was helped by an early red card.

Just 1-0 down at the time, Feyenoord went down to ten men in the 34th minute, but they managed to restrict the hosts to just one extra goal before the break.

Things got a little silly in the second half. By the 63rd minute, it was 7-0, and PSV managed to grab another three in the remaining 27 minutes to set an Eredivisie record at the time.

That Feyenoord team featured young versions of Georginio Wijnaldum, Stefan de Vrij, Leroy Fer and Bruno Martins Indi, but that wasn't enough to save them.

2. Benfica 10-0 Nacional (10/02/19)

It was Benfica's attack that won them the 2018/19 Liga NOS title. Their return of 103 goals in just 34 games was 29 more than any other side, and ten of them came against Nacional in February 2019.

Impressively, no player scored more than the two goals managed by both Haris Seferović and Jonas during the game.

Álex Grimaldo, João Félix, Pizzi, Ferro, Rúben Dias and Rafa Silva all grabbed a slice of the pie, shattering the Liga NOS record in the process.

1. VVV-Venlo 0-13 Ajax (24/10/20)

Yep. 13-0.

Erik ten Hag's Ajax roared their way to a whopping 13-0 victory over VVV-Venlo in October 2020, breaking club records in the process.

This was the biggest victory in club history, while 19-year-old striker Lassina Traoré became the first Ajax player to score five since the great Marco van Basten did so in 1985.

Most of the fun came in the second half, when Christian Kum's red card opened the floodgates for eight goals in 26 minutes. It'll take something special to knock this one off top spot.

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