Tuesday cannon fodder: hat trick hero

When we wake up on the morning of June 17th, we will be waking up on an Arsenal matchday for the first time in more than 100 days. That is 15 days from now. Today’s number takes us back to October 23rd, 1999.

Nwankwo Kanu needed just 15 minutes to score a hat trick to lift Arsenal to a 3-2, comeback victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Kanu scored in the 75th, 83rd, and 90th minutes to complete the improbable comeback against a Blues side that hadn’t lost a home match more than two months into the season. In fact, they hadn’t even conceded a goal at Stamford Bridge until the Arsenal striker’s 15-minute outburst.

20 years after the hat trick, Kanu reminisced on his historic day in an interview with the Mirror:

“Whenever everybody sees me and it is something to do with Chelsea, even the fans in Nigeria, they are always trying to curse me and say, ‘Why did you score that goal?’ But then the Arsenal fans are happy. They always remind Chelsea fans ‘Can you remember what Kanu did against your team?’ You live with that. If you ask me the greatest goal I have ever scored, that is what I would say.”

Make sure you watch that video — that last goal is magnificent.