When foreign players arrive in the Premier League, it can take some a little while to adapt to the English game.
Dennis Bergkamp, who signed for Arsenal from Inter Milan in 1995 for what was a club record fee at the time of £7.5m, was no different. The striker actually failed to score in his first six matches for the Gunners, prompting some journalists to question the judgement behind his signing.
However, the arrival of Arsene Wenger a year later marked a turn in fortune for the Dutch international, who was instantly made a key part of his new manager's plans.
Bergkamp would reward the faith shown in him on so many occasions during his career with Arsenal, but perhaps no performance matched the one that he produced against Leicester City at Filbert Street 16 years ago today.
In what would turn out to be one of the most memorable matches in Premier League history, the creative centre-forward shone by scoring a hat-trick.
He broke the deadlock during the first half when he curled the ball into the top corner of the net from a Marc Overmars short corner, before beating Leicester goalkeeper Kasey Keller to the ball to loft Arsenal into a 2-0 lead after the restart.
Late in the game, though, the Foxes rallied and levelled up proceedings thanks to Emile Heskey and Matt Elliott, who struck just as the contest entered into stoppage time.
The goal of the match was then claimed by Bergkamp just one minute later when he shifted the ball from his right to left boot to control a pass from David Platt, tricking his way beyond Elliott in the process. He then had the composure to beat Keller from close range to put his side 3-2 in front.
Leicester were not done either, though, and claimed a share of the spoils when an unmarked Steve Walsh powered a header into the roof of the net in the sixth minute of time added on.
While the home side's fightback had stolen the headlines, Bergkamp's three-goal haul did not unnoticed and is considered by many to have been the best hat-trick scored by a Premier League footballer.
Liam Apicella
