To celebrate 30 years of the Premier League, The Athletic is paying tribute to the 50 greatest individual performances in its history, as voted for by our writers. You can read Oliver Kay’s introduction to our Golden Games series (and the selection rules) here — as well as the full list of all the articles as they unfold.
Picking 50 from 309,949 options is an impossible task. You might not agree with their choices, you won’t agree with the order. They didn’t. It’s not intended as a definitive list. It’s a bit of fun, but hopefully a bit of fun you’ll enjoy between now and August.
Arsene Wenger walked into the press room at Stamford Bridge, and when he was asked to describe what Nwankwo Kanu had just done, his face took on the same astonished look as all the other witnesses of a goal you wouldn’t imagine if you hadn’t actually seen it. “He was down on the touchline!” Wenger exclaimed, astonished, as if he was trying to compute something that didn’t seem possible.
That was Kanu.
So much about him seemed to defy belief. Quite apart from the technical wizardry that enabled him to do things so wondrously out of the ordinary, watching him play football at times felt extra special because it was a miracle he was playing at all. Three years previously, as reigning African Footballer of the Year, a serious heart defect was diagnosed and doctors feared for his career. Arsenal took extra precautions and guided him on a tour of Harley Street doctors before signing this most unusual talent. Kanu looked like he was built for the high jump, yet in his gargantuan size 15 boots his footwork was intricate enough he could probably have causally painted a masterpiece with a brush between his toes.
So, for the purposes of this series, let’s gather some of the elements that elevate a performance to greatness. Let’s start by throwing a last-minute winner into the hat. Add the twisting plot of a comeback. For background, a filthy day with teeming rain, a difficult, sodden pitch, and the bitter loathing of a local rivalry. On top of that, a match winner of rare invention and creativity. Sometimes just one of these things is enough to elevate a game. This one had it all.
There was a lot going on for Arsenal in the autumn of 1999. Kanu had signed earlier that year, and during the summer Wenger recruited Thierry Henry and Davor Suker to a forward line that also included Dennis Bergkamp. The pedigree within that attacking group was arguably as spectacular as any point in the club’s history, including World Cup winners and golden boots, Champions League triumphs, English doubles and footballers of the year. Even though some were not quite in their prime (Henry was on the way in and Suker on the way out of that sweet spot) it was still an impressive collection.
Kanu’s place in it all was interesting. He was a regular starter during the season, even if throughout his Arsenal career he fluctuated between the major role and specialist act of impact substitute. Wenger loved the flexibility, the fact Kanu had the ingenuity and skill to fill Bergkamp’s No 10 role, and the hold-up play and cleverness around goal to bring in others or finish himself, reminiscent of the No 9 responsibility a player like Alan Smith used to such great effect.
On October 23rd, 1999, Arsenal faced a trip to Chelsea, which was ill-timed as it was the filling in a very intense Champions League sandwich. Home games either side, against Barcelona and Fiorentina, loomed large in the consciousness and Wenger picked his team accordingly. This was a trial campaign in that Arsenal hired Wembley Stadium for their European matches, an experiment that seemed to pile on the pressure as they were not quite at home, and their opponents tended to arrive extra inspired.
Bergkamp, notably, was rested for the Chelsea game. There was also no Patrick Vieira to command central midfield. Still, Arsenal at that time seemed to have a hex on Chelsea and were on a long unbeaten run against them.
But having started sketchily, Chelsea got the breaks and went 2-0 up. Coming so soon after Barcelona belittled them with a 4-2 masterclass at Wembley, Arsenal were feeling the pressure. They were wobbling both in Europe and domestically, and with 15 minutes to go Wenger was worried for Arsenal’s season. Chelsea hadn’t conceded a goal in the Premier League at home all season. Wenger desperately needed somebody, or something, to change the record. But how?
The game was increasingly uncontrolled, error strewn, reckless. Both teams gave the ball away carelessly. For example, when Chelsea won a free kick, which was hooked daftly straight into touch, Dennis Wise’s irritation was written all over his face. He bashed a finger at his temple, urging his team-mates to concentrate. We’re two nil up here. Don’t be stupid.
The conditions were not to be trusted. The pitch was soggy, unreliable. There was a hint of the possibility to come when Marcel Desailly played a hurried backpass to Ed De Goey. There was nobody closing him down in a particularly worrisome way. But when the keeper came to clear as he put his foot through the ball he swept through a puddle in the penalty area. Spray whooshed up. It was anything-can-happen territory.
Niggling fouls. Balls bouncing unpredictably over heads. A frenzy of casual turnovers. It was pouring so relentlessly Wenger, in the uncovered dugouts, wrapped a red towel over his legs. It wasn’t pretty viewing from his perspective.
Arsenal’s foothold came scrappily. Marc Overmars’ hopeful shot skimmed into Kanu’s path and after a quick controlling touch and a half spin, out sprung one of those telescopic legs to toe poke the ball into the corner.
The second was another exhibit of two-touch ruthlessness that owed a lot to those long limbs of his. The first touch redirected Overmars’ cross to angle the ball away from Chelsea’s defenders, the next thumped the ball in at the near post.
Kanu was central to everything during that final 15 minutes, tormenting the French World Cup-winning defensive pair of Desailly and Frank Lebeouf. His touch was soft, looking to carry Arsenal towards the winner.
The piece de resistance was preposterous. By now the crowd resorted to making a kind of white noise accompaniment, babbling and oohing an ahhing with everything on edge. Arsenal fashioned a break through Overmars and Suker, but the pass to Kanu was disappointing – bending too wide and deep towards the byline. “Argh,” exclaimed commentator Martin Tyler, “Kanu didn’t want it there…”
Kanu ambled over and blocked Chelsea’s attempted clearance. Again, Tyler’s words reflect the sentiment of the moment, with his voice beginning to crack as he watched in awe. “Kanu… What’s he gonna do heeeeeerre?”
What he did was something very few players would have thought of, tried, or pulled off. He was not far from he corner flag when De Goey dashed out to meet him. Kanu slowed time, dropped his shoulder, De Goey went one way and Kanu calmly stepped the other. His rising shot from the slenderest angle zoomed over the heads of Desailly, and Lebeouf on the line. Bedlam. Believe it or not, just then the sun came out.
Kanu’s three goals required different methodology, different processes, different thinking and executing. That kind of mastery and invention, in a pressure situation, remains a standout moment in the Premier League.
Wenger struggled to explain it afterwards. “I don’t know how he scored the third goal — I thought it was an impossible chance from that angle.” He wheezed that Kanu’s inspired recovery in that game aged him 10 years. It was a nice line and we could all tell what he meant but at the same time the beauty of that performance is that it also felt like it took years off you, made you feel young and euphoric and energised. It was one of those to remind you why you love sport at all, with that whirlwind of the unpredictable that can sweep you up with a clever touch, a dashing finish, and a flicked emotional switch.
Some of us watching lost ourselves in the moment. I suppose I should apologise. Falling short on expected standards is not a great look, but like a kid who misbehaves but tries desperately to explain that someone else was responsible, I felt it wasn’t entirely my doing. Kanu made me do it.
So here’s the scenario. British press box etiquette dictates that celebrating in the section reserved for independent writers of record is frowned upon. Even the act of witnessing something remarkable requires a measured response — fact-checking and in-jokes are allowed but that’s about it. Jumping out of your seat is a major transgression. But when Kanu scored one of the most outrageously bold hat-tricks to grace the Premier League, etiquette evaporated and I rose to applaud. Steve Stammers, a respected gentleman of the press to my left, promptly jabbed me in the ribs and gave me a stare. “Foot on the ball, Amy,” he said coolly. “Foot on the ball.”
Maybe it was too much. But sometimes football is just too euphoric not to let yourself go.
(Photos: Getty Images/Design: Sam Richardson)
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