Today marks the 20th anniversary of the transcendent goal from Dennis Bergkamp against Newcastle.
The goal is remembered for its difficulty, its uniqueness, and its grace. However, an often forgotten fact is the importance of the game it was scored in.
The Premier League title was still up for grabs in March 2002, with both Arsenal and Newcastle in the running. Arsenal would win 2-0 at St. James’ Park, going a long way to securing the title and putting a massive dent in Newcastle’s hopes.
Arsenal were also missing their main goal scorer Thierry Henry, putting more pressure on Bergkamp to fill that gap and step up.
Bergkamp and Arsenal would win the league that year, finishing seven points ahead of Liverpool, and 15 ahead of Newcastle in fourth.
The goal from Bergkamp will be forever remembered for a pirouette and first touch that we had never seen before and have never seen since.
Dennis Bergkamp goal vs Newcastle
An argument surrounding the goal, which festered for years, was whether it was intentional or not.
Thankfully Dennis Bergkamp put that argument to bed in the above video and in an interview with FourFourTwo. His comments on the goal merely serve to heighten the awe of it, leaving us wondering how a player could perform such a skill on the fly.
"The week after that goal, ‘Did you really mean it?’ was the question everyone was asking me," he said.
"I couldn’t understand what people meant by the question. I didn’t see the goal on television for several days, and so many people were asking me that I thought, ‘OK, I have to see what they saw’.
"I watched it back, and then I could understand what they meant. The pass from Pires was slightly behind me and I was adjusting myself to the situation, because I wanted to go through on goal with one touch. I touched the ball, but my body was already turning the other way, so it looked quite good!
"For many goals, players just decide at the last moment what they’re going to do. That was the same with me. I’m glad it looked like that, and that everyone is still talking about it today."
See Also: "Typical Tottenham": Middlesbrough Youngster Seals FA Cup Upset In Extra-Time v Spurs
