“It’s always a good day when Arsenal beats Chelsea” – ex-Arsenal star Nwankwo Kanu celebrates Gunners’ win over Chelsea
Arsenal earned their first win at Chelsea since the 2011-12 season on Wednesday thanks to Emile Smith-Rowe’s first-half strike.
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga scrambled to palm away Jorginho’s goal-bound backpass, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pounced on the rebound and set up Rowe for an easy tap-in — and the goal proved to be the difference.
Having beaten Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League earlier in the season, it means the Gunners have completed their first league double over the Blues since the 2003-04 season.
Following the victory, former Arsenal and Nigeria forward Nwankwo Kanu — who’s no stranger to scoring at Stamford Bridge — took to Twitter to express his delight.
It’s always a good day when Arsenal beats Chelsea. Well done Gunners 😎👍🏽 @arsenal #coyg #gunners @aftvmedia @premierleague #wemove #welldone pic.twitter.com/Z7WZ2UHfFQ
— Kanu Nwankwo (@papilokanu) May 12, 2021
“It’s always a good day when Arsenal beats Chelsea. Well done Gunners,” the 44-year-old wrote alongside a photo of himself in an Arsenal shirt, after the derby victory which moved Arsenal up to eighth in the standings.
On October 23, 1999, Nwankwo Kanu wrote his name into Arsenal folklore with a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge that earned the Gunners a famous 3-2 comeback win against Chelsea.
With 30 minutes left to play, Chelsea looked to have wrapped up the game thanks to headers from Tore Andre Flo and Dan Petrescu. Kanu had other ideas, though, as he single-handedly turned the game on its head.
On 75 minutes, the Nigerian intercepted Marc Overmas’ shot before finding the bottom corner to make it 2-1.
With seven minutes to go, Kanu got his second of the game to level things up. Controlling another Overmas ball into space, the attacker beat Ed De Goey at his near post.
He then completed the comeback with a solo effort. Regaining possession on the sideline, Kanu rounded De Goey — who had charged out of his box to tackle him — before firing past two defenders and into the top far corner from a tight angle.
The Gunners had signed Kanu for around £4.15million in February 1999 and he went on to finish the season well — scoring seven goals in 17 games.
