Dennis Bergkamp helped lift Arsenal to new heights during his time in north London, with many memorable efforts recorded along the way.
A little about the topic
The Dutchman may have made a rather slow start to his spell in the Gunners, but there was no stopping the Dutch maestro once he was up and running in north London. Currently, a statue of him is located outside Emirates Stadium, with a class of playmakers helping to transform PL with his own brand of fairy dust.
In total, Dennis Bergkamp registered 120 goals for Arsennal, helping them to three title triumphs and four FA Cup successes, with many memorable shots included on the glittering CV. One of them came against Newcastle on March 2, 2002 to set eyes on this amazing strike.
What did Dennis Bergkamp say?
This is a question that many of those in St James’ Park, watching from afar, have been asking themselves after witnessing remarkable efforts that seem to defy logic. In the North East, there were only 11 minutes on the clock when Patrick Vieira bowled the No10 mascot. Dennis quickly transferred it to Robert Pires on the left wing, with the World Cup-winning Frenchman then spotting a dart towards the box from his Dutch counterpart.
The pass was a ping to the edge of the box where Dennis Bergkamp had his back to the net and Greek Nikos Dabizas in close presence. Instead of taking possession, defending the ball and looking to bring others into play, Dennis produced an ugly flick with his left shoe and pirouetted around his marker. After an impressive display of strength to hold his man, Dennis returned the ball before Nikos’ desperate lunge and calmly cut behind Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given’s outstretched leg.
It was a moment-and-you-will-miss-it, with the members of the house and the support side both left rubbing their eyes in disbelief. The head of the gunners Arsene Wenger then told reporters that they would not see many such goals, it was an incredible goal. According to Wenger, they are blessed to see this when they come to the stadium.
Dennis, eager to explain what happened, said that the fastest way to get to the ball was to turn like this… so it looked a little special or weird or cute, but that was the only option for him and the fastest way to get to the ball and to gate.
According to Dennis Bergkamp, the finish was just to try and get past the goalkeeper in a way that he couldn’t reach. The whole move was probably perfect. It could have gone completely wrong, but this time it worked.
Dennis Bergkamp then helped the Gunners in the second half of the game with an accurate free-kick that Sol Campbell chose, and Arsenal ended the 2001-02 campaign as double winners – with their triumph in the PL, which was confirmed against the Red Devils’ rivals at Old Trafford in May.