On This Day: Astori passed away; Man Utd legend Andy Cole scored 5 in a 9-0 win

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (March 4th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, feel free to post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On This Day in 2018 - Astori Passed Away

On 4 March 2018, Astori died in his sleep while staying in a hotel in Udine prior to Fiorentina's match against Udinese, proven to be caused by cardiac arrest determined from an autopsy conducted two days later.

A club statement said "Fiorentina are profoundly shaken and forced to announce that their captain Davide Astori has died." His former Cagliari teammate and coach Diego López and former Fiorentina teammate Carlos Sánchez collapsed to the ground after hearing the news of his death, however they both recovered shortly after.

All Serie A and Serie B matches scheduled for 4 March were postponed. His death had caused shock across the footballing world, and many coaches and players paid their respects. UEFA later announced on Twitter that a minute's silence was to be observed before every European match scheduled for that week. Cagliari and Fiorentina both retired the number 13 jersey worn by Astori in his honour (Astori wore this number as it was the number that his idol, Alessandro Nesta, had also worn throughout his career). 

He was buried at San Pellegrino Terme cemetery on 8 March 2018. Fiorentina's next home game against Benevento, on 11 March, was paused for 60 seconds at the 13 minute mark in his honour, while children from both teams entered wearing Astori's jersey to pay tribute to him; Fiorentina won the match 1–0, with the only goal coming from Vitor Hugo, who celebrated after scoring by saluting a T-shirt bearing Astori's image.

Later that month, Fiorentina announced that they would rename their training ground "Centro Sportivo Davide Astori" after Astori. Also later that month, in Italy's friendly with Argentina on 23 March, as well as Italy's friendly against England on 27 March, the Italy squad shirts were embossed with, under the crest, "Davide sempre con noi", Italian for "Davide always with us", with the number 13 below. 

Although Serie A introduced a new ruling ahead of the 2018–19 Serie A season, which introduced a standardized armband for all club captains, Fiorentina's new captain, Germán Pezzella, was granted an exemption by the league, and was allowed to wear a personalized captain's armband in tribute to Astori. Later that year, Astori was inducted into the Fiorentina Hall of Fame.

To commemorate one year since his death, all Serie A matches were stopped at the 13th-minute mark on 2 and 3 March 2019.

Football will always remember Davide Astori, forever.

On This Day in 1995 - The Andy Cole Quintet

On 4 March 1995, Manchester United striker Andy Cole netted a record 5 times against Ipswich en route to a 9-0 win. It remains the largest margin of victory in Premier League history.

United were the two-time defending champions, having won both titles since the Premier League's creation in 1992, and were challenging for a third. Ipswich, meanwhile, were in the relegation zone, just one spot off the table's bottom. But they had beaten United earlier in the season, claiming a 3-2 win at Portman Road back in September.

Playing before a crowd of almost 44,000 at Old Trafford, United showed early on that they were not expecting a repeat of the previous match. In just the 16th minute, Roy Keane put them up 1-0 with a blast from outside the box, then Cole struck twice from close range (23', 37') to set the margin at 3-0 by the break.

Things only got worse for Ipswich in the second half, as Cole scored twice more (53', 65') around a pair of goals from Mark Hughes (54', 59'). Paul Ince added an eighth in the 72nd minute, then Cole struck again in the 88th, making him the first player to score five teams in a Premier League match (though the overall top-flight record remains 7, scored by Arsenal's Ted Drake in 1935). The 9-0 result is also the Premier League's record margin (though the overall top-flight record is 12, set by West Brom in 1892 and matched by Nottingham Forest in 1909).

Cole's tally has since been matched by Alan Shearer, Jermain Defoe, and Dimitar Berbatov, but has not been exceeded in a Premier League contest.

On This Day in 1982 - O Captain, My Captain

On 4 March 1982, United States captain and record goalscorer Landon Donovan was born in Ontario, California. In addition to being the national team's all-time scoring leader, he also leads the team in assists and has made the most international appearances of any active US player.

In 1997, at the age of 15, the striker/midfielder joined the United States Youth Development Program, subsequently moving to the IMG Soccer Academy in 1999. Later that year, he signed a youth contract with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. He eventually signed a senior contract with the German club lasting from 2001 to 2005, but never settled in, leading to criticism that Donovan was too soft for European competition. He spent the majority of his contract years on loan in the US, first to the San Jose Earthquakes (2001-04), then to the Los Angeles Galaxy (2005-current).

After starring for the US national team youth sides, Donovan debuted for the senior side on 25 October 2000 in a friendly against Mexico, scoring the opening goal in the 2-0 win. He displayed impressive form in the Americans' run to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup, being named the tournament's best young player.

Donovan has enjoyed record-setting success with the national team. On 11 April 2006, Donovan notched his 23rd assist in a 1-1 friendly with Jamaica, moving him past Cobi Jones as the US assist leader. And on 19 January 2008, he scored with a penalty kick against Sweden to pass Eric Wynalda as the national team's highest goalscorer on his way to his current tally of 57 goals in 155 appearances, the most caps of any active US international.

On This Day in 1992 - Leno Was Born

Bernd Leno was born 4 March 1992 and he is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Arsenal and the German national team.

Leno shone from an early age at Stuttgart and became one of the best goalkeepers in Germany at Bayer Leverkusen. 

After joining Arsenal from Bayer Leverkusen, Leno has already made great performances for the Gunners and impressed fans with his wonderful saves and professional skills.

Happy Birthday!

On This Day in 1992 - Same birthday as Leno! HBD to Lamela!

Erik Lamela was born 4 March 1992 and he is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Tottenham Hotspur and the Argentina national team.

He began his career at River Plate and in 2011 transferred to Roma for an initial €12 million. 

After two Serie A seasons he joined Tottenham for a fee of £25.8 million. A full international since 2011, he was part of the Argentine squad which finished as runners-up at the 2015 Copa América.

On This Day in 1945 - Red Star Rising

On 4 March 1945, European and world champions Red Star Belgrade formed from the ashes of a previous club, SK 1913.

As their name suggests, SK 1913 were founded in 1913, but as SK Velika Srbija. From 1919 to 1941, they were known as SK Jugoslavija and twice won the Yugoslavian championship (1924, 1925). When the Kingdom of Yugoslavia dissolved in 1941, they again changed their name, this time to SK 1913.

In 1945, however, after the end of World War II, the government of the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia labeled accused the club of collaborating with the Axis powers by playing matches during the war. The government formally disbanded the club, handing their stadium, colors, offices, and players to the newly-formed Red Star.

Red Star went on to become a dominant club, with a record 26 league titles and a record 24 national cups as their nation changed from SFR Yugoslavia to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then to the Federal Republic of Serbia and Montenegro, and to its current status as Serbia. Red Star have also tasted international success, winning the both the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1991.