23/10/1999  Chelsea 2 Arsenal 3
 
A spectacular hat-trick from Kanu crowned an incredible 
Arsenal fightback at a rain-soaked Stamford Bridge.

The lanky Nigerian grabbed three clinical strikes in the 
last 16 minutes as the Gunners came back from two down to take 
the honours in the clash of London's big spenders.

Kanu danced his way through a waterlogged pitch to rescue 
Arsenal from the brink of despair with three beautiful 
goals.

The first was a poacher's strike, the second a combination 
of control and powerful finishing but the third was a 
wonderful virtuoso effort from the Arsenal striker.

He collected the ball on the byline and showed great 
trickery to wriggle past Ed De Goey, inexplicably out of his 
goal, and curled a pinpoint finish over Frank Leboeuf from an 
acute angle.

Arsene Wenger's men had been desperate to rediscover their 
winning ways after taking a 4-2 midweek hammering at the hands 
of Barcelona at Wembley.

But it was Chelsea, fresh from a 5-0 victory over 
Galatasaray in Istanbul, who looked to be on course for this 
crucial win in the heavyweight London contest.

Tore Andre Flo scored the only goal of a dodgy first half 
and, when Dan Petrescu headed home the second in the 52nd 
minute, Chelsea looked destined to add another big name to 
their impressive list of scalps.

Flo's towering 39th-minute header to put Chelsea ahead was 
the game's first shot on target.

Arsenal dominated territorially during the opening 
exchanges without forcing De Goey into action while David 
Seaman spent the first half hour keeping warm in the rain.

Kanu crashed a snap-shot into the side netting in the 13th 
minute after Dennis Wise beat Davor Suker to a low, right-wing 
cross but only succeeded in giving it straight to the big 
Nigerian. Lee Dixon then crossed for Kanu but his header went 
over. 

Chelsea broke down the right to take the lead against the 
run of play. Petrescu delivered the cross for Flo who drifted 
off the back of Martin Keown and planted his header back 
beyond the dive of Seaman.

The Gunners hit back. Marc Overmars flashed a long-range 
effort over and then saw his volley rise inches too high from 
the edge of the penalty box.

The first half was packed full of snarling tackles. Graham 
Le Saux found himself a popular target as a first-half 
downpour greased the Stamford Bridge surface. Dixon found 
himself in Alan Wilkie's notebook inside two minutes and 
Suker, Le Saux, Wise, Emanuel Petit, Didier Deschamps, Chris 
Sutton and Nelson Vivas all followed before the end of the 
afternoon.

Petit, making his return from a knee injury, lasted 65 
minutes in his comeback in midfield before he was replaced by 
Vivas.

If the first half had been a tight midfield scrap, the play 
opened up after the interval. Both sides threw men forward and 
the constant rain added an element of chance to the 
proceedings. Standing water made defending tricky and both 
sides hurled men forward in a bid to seize the initiative.

Le Saux robbed Dixon deep in Arsenal territory two minutes 
after the restart and released Flo whose fierce shot was 
turned behind by Seaman.

Le Saux caused further problems for the Gunners, moments 
later, when his cross helped Petrescu extend the Chelsea lead. 
The left-wing ball from the England man was met beautifully by 
Petrescu's run and the Romanian headed home from six yards 


Then Kanu stepped on to centre stage. He put Arsenal back 
in contention in the 74th minute with a predatory strike.

He stopped an Overmars drive, en route to goal, and spun 
quickly to toe-poke the ball through the puddles and into the 
corner of De Goey's net.

It was the first goal conceded by Chelsea at Stamford 
Bridge in the Premiership this season but the second and third 
quickly followed as Gianluca Vialli's defence dissolved.

Overmars crossed low from the right and Kanu took one touch 
before hammering a right-foot blockbuster past De Goey.

Just as the 35,000 crowd were settling for a point each, 
Kanu struck his breathtaking winner in the second minute of 
stoppage time.