Premier League Christmas advent calendar – December 18: Dennis Bergkamp hits a stunning hat-trick at Leicester

Alan Hansen called it the greatest hat-trick he had ever seen and, for once, he had a point.

It’s August 27, 1997 and Arsenal are away in a midweek fixture at Leicester City. It’s been two years since Dutch star Dennis Bergkamp signed for the Gunners and he’s finally beginning to find his finest form.

In a bewildering display at Filbert Street, the former Ajax striker puts in his greatest display yet, scoring a hat-trick that has gone down in history as one of the best the division has witnessed.

The first was a 20-yard right-foot screamer that steamed into the top corner while the second was a breakaway goal with a clever dinked finish over Foxes keeper Kasey Keller at the end.

But the third was the best of the lot.

As David Platt loops a through ball into the Leicester box, Bergkamp pulls it out of the night sky with his right foot, juggles back over his shoulder with his left (leaving defender Matt Elliott in a different county) and then slots it past Keller into the far corner.

That month, Bergkamp would go on to take the top three places in Match of the Day’s Goal of the Month competition with two goals from the Leicester game and another superb solo effort against Southampton completing the one and only time a player has swept the board in the competition.

Nobody ever mentions that Arsenal only drew that night though.