The 2025/26 Premier League season has been strange in its own beautiful way. Despite seeing fewer goals overall, we are witnessing a record number of late goals, especially in stoppage time. It is almost like games don’t truly begin until the 90th minute. From dramatic equalizers to title-race winners, teams seem to have developed a knack for striking when it matters most, just as seen when Estevão’s late strike sank Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
A goal is now scored in stoppage time roughly every three matches, and an astonishing 13.2% of all Premier League goals this season have come in the final minute, which is the highest share in league history. Even with games being tighter, the drama has not faded. In fact, late goals have become the new normal.
We saw it again in Matchweek 6, where eight goals were scored in stoppage time on a single Saturday. That is something that had not happened before. Matches are lasting longer, averaging over 100 minutes, and fans know better than to leave early. Ask those who missed Arsenal’s last-gasp win at Newcastle through Gabriel’s 96th-minute strike.
Interestingly, this rise in stoppage-time goals is not only about longer matches. The goals-per-game rate has dropped, so logic would say late goals should also fall, but it is the complete opposite. One reason might be how teams are approaching the closing minutes now. Games are tighter, and there’s more at stake late on, so even the smallest set-piece or counterattack can change everything.
Liverpool, for instance, have already been both the heartbreakers and the heartbroken this season, scoring last-minute winners in some games like against Newcastle before conceding in others like that shocking loss at Selhurst Park when Nketiah’s strike helped Crystal Palace stun the Reds.
Set pieces have also become crucial. This season, there’s a 90th-minute set-piece goal every 10 games, up from once every 15 last year. Fatigue plays a role too, as defenders rarely get subbed off, and by the time the clock hits 90, mistakes creep in. The combination of longer games, tighter scorelines, and more structured routines is turning every corner kick and free-kick into a mini-drama.
And that’s the magic of it all. You might not see five or six goals anymore, but you will definitely see the kind that make fans scream in the dying seconds. If anything, the 2025/26 campaign has proven that in the Premier League, it’s never over until the very last whistle.
Crystal Palace posted a video on their official X account showing their dramatic 2-1 stoppage-time victory over Liverpool on September 27, 2025, with Eddie Nketiah’s composed left-footed finish from Marc Guéhi’s assist securing their unbeaten run at seven games.
Watch video below:
