Nwankwo Kanu rolled back the years with a hat-trick for Arsenal legends in a 4-2 victory over AC Milan Glorie.
Arsenal fans have joked that they’d rather have Nwankwo Kanu playing up front that Olivier Giroud after the Nigerian bagged a hat-trick for the Gunners in a 4-2 charity match victory over AC Milan Glorie on Saturday.
The 40-year-old Nigerian came of the bench for Arsenal’s legends team and rolled back the years with a well-taken treble – 17 years after his famous 15-minute hat-trick against Chelsea. The former frontman also backed himself to score a hat-trick prior to kick-off so he certainly does not lack confidence.
Kanu replaced Brazilian Gilberto Silva after 25 minutes and scored with his first touch of the game, and in the second half he grabbed two more as he headed in Luis Boa Morte’s cross in off the crossbar before sealing his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
French fan favourite Robert Pires also got on the scoresheet at the Emirates Stadium with Italian frontman Christian Vieri bagging a brace for the visitors.
Arsenal Invincibles
The charity match helped raise money for The Arsenal Foundation and saw past players from Arsenal and AC Milan go head to head with Arsene Wenger and Fabio Capello taking charge of the respective teams.
Here is how Arsenal started the match:
Arsenal Legends starting XI: Seaman, Hoyte, Toure, Keown, Winterburn, Parlour, Petit, Gilberto, Overmars, Pires, Ljungberg
Subs: Lehmann, Cygan, Limpar, Grimandi, Boa Morte, Kanu.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and former footballers Robert Pires and Marcel Desailly
And they faced a Milan side which included the likes of Cafu, Dida, Paolo Maldini, Marcel Desailly, Paolo Di Canio and Christian Vieri amongst others.
Needless to say the event was a huge success, with Gunners fans calling for some of the players to return to the club.
Here is how Twitter responded to the match:
Kanu’s hat-trick wasn’t the only blast from the past either…
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