Biggest comebacks of 2014

The Wanderers stormed out to a two-goal lead after 24 minutes and looked to be running away with the Sydney derby. Vitor Saba’s dismissal opened the door for Sydney who came raging back to score three unanswered goals to win the derby 3-2 in front of a packed house.

Manchester United travelled to Leicester thinking they would have an easy day. After going up 3-1 it looked to be the case, however after some moments of madness from the United backline, giving aay two penalties and a red-card, Leicester’s gutsy counter-attacking resulted in them miraculously scoring four straight goals to win 5-3.

In what has been described as the most riveting finish to the Bathurst 1000 in years, Chaz Mostert pulled of one of the great drives to claim the crown. Starting from last place on the 25-car grid after being relegated due to a rule-breaking error in qualifying, Mostert snatched victory on the last lap, passing Jamie Whincup, who was running low on fuel. The drama was high, the race was tight and Mostert delivered on of the greatest comebacks of the year.

Down two sets to Gael Monfils in the US Open quarter-finals, Roger Federer staged an almighty Grand Slam fight-back to win 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. Monfils failed to convert two match points in fourth set, swinging the momentum back to Federer who was able to comfortably close out the fifth set.

The NFL playoffs kicked-off in the most dramatic fashion with the Indianapolis Colts, pulling off the second biggest comeback in post-season history to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck led a huge second half effort to overturn a 28-point deficit, capped off with a game-winning 64-yard touchdown throw to TY Hilton. They were down 38-10, yet somehow managed to win the game 45-44 in one of the most entertaining playoff games in recent memory.

Before his heroics against Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios staged the performance of his career in the second round, mounting an incredible comeback to upset 13th seed Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon. Kyrgios came from two sets down and saved nine match points in the final set before clinching victory 3-6, 6-7 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5, 10-8.

South Africa pulled off the second-biggest run-chase in their one-day international history to against Australia in tri-series after being set a target of 328. Behind some swashbuckling batting from AB de Villiers (136 not out) and Faf du Plessis (106), the Proteas claimed a comfortable seven-wicket win with 20 balls to spare.

It looked as though the Western Sydney Wanderers were about to claim their first A-League crown, leading the Roar 1-0 in the grand final in the 86th minute. Bersat Berisha had other ideas, popping up to equalise and send the game into extra-time where Henrique bagged a second goal to seal the Roar’s third title in four seasons.

The Cowboys nearly pulled off the biggest comeback victory in 106 years of premiership rugby league. Down 30-0 after half an hour, Jonathan Thurston led a scintillating comeback to lock up the scores at 30-all with just 23 minutes left. A controversial penalty decision and a 76th-minute field goal from Rooster James Maloney sunk the Cowboys valiant comeback. So close, yet so far.

In the fourth quarter Footscray were down 18 points in the VFL grand final, but turned things around with an avalanche of goals. They went on to steamroll reigning premiers Box Hill by 22 points, claiming their first major trophy since they won their only VFL/AFL premiership in 1954.