Nwankwo Kanu vs Shakhtar Donetsk (20-09-2000)

Описание: Kanu provided the winning assist as Arsenal came from 2 goals down to claim a 3-2 win at home over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Nwankwo Kanu Highlights: Arsenal 3-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Match Report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footb..., https://www.theguardian.com/football/...

Two goals from Martin Keown handed Arsenal a last-gasp win against their Ukrainian opponents at Highbury. Shakhtar went 2-0 up in the first-half and looked destined for victory.
But before the interval they had a man sent off and Frenchman Sylvain Wiltord grabbed a goal back following a contentious penalty.

And in the last six minutes Keown became the improbable goalscoring hero, chesting his first in from a corner and then coolly slotting home following great work by Kanu.

Arsenal flooded forward in the early stages and looked likely to overwhelm their opponents.

Kanu, Robert Pires and Fredrik Ljunberg all had good chances inside the first 15 minutes but were thwarted by Shakhtar's impressive goalkeeper Yurii Virt.

Thierry Henry did manage to beat Virt with a curling free kick from the edge of the area after 24 minutes, but this time the crossbar frustrated him.

Despite Arsenal's dominance, it was Shakhtar who opened the scoring with their first shot on target in the 25th minute.

Alexei Bakharev's 20-yard free-kick was wickedly deflected when it hit the advancing Pires and David Seaman was helpless as the ball went wide of him into the net.

The disbelief of the Highbury crowd grew two minutes later when Shakhtar added a second.

Shevchuk crossed into the box and Atelkin neatly cushioned the ball into the path of Vorobyey, who netted from an acute angle.

Shakhtar
Shakhtar celebrate their second goal
But home spirits started to lift at the end of the half.

In the 44th minute Popov was sent-off for a second bookable offence after blocking Patrick Vieira when the Frenchman had knocked the ball past him.

And then with two minutes of injury time gone, the referee handed Arsenal a penalty - and a lifeline.

Sylvain Wiltord, a lively substitute for the injured Pires, went sprawling in the box as he moved for a cross from Lee Dixon.

Virt brilliantly parried Henry's penalty, but Wiltord followed up to slot the ball past him.

Arsenal created a plethora of chances from the first minute of the restart.

Kanu showed some fantastic skill in the box in the 50th minute, beating several men but then dragging his shot wide.

Then Henry saw a clever backheel go wide and Wiltord went close with a couple of good opportunities.

Sylvain Wiltord
Sylvain Wiltord scored Arsenal's first goal
Even the normally goal-shy Lee Dixon shot powerfully from inside the area, but saw the inspired Virt block his effort on the line.

It looked like Arsenal would never score, but they ended up getting goals from a most improbable source.

After 84 minutes Martin Keown came forward for a corner and chested the ball into the Shakhtar goal.

Then with a minute of injury time gone, the defender slotted home after the Shakhtar defence had been opened up by the trickery of Kanu.
Arsenal: David Seaman; Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Oleg Luzhny, Silvinho; Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Gilles Grimandi, Fredrik Ljungberg; Thierry Henry, Kanu.

Shakhtar Donetsk: Yurii Virt; Mykhaylo Starostyak, Sergei Popov, Anatoly Tymoschuk, Dainius Gleveckas; Vitaly Abramov, Sergei Atelkin, Alexei Bakharev, Viacheslav Shevchuk; Andrei Vorobyey, Hennadii Zubov.

Referee: Hartmut Strampe (Germany).