At the start of the 1999-2000 season, only five Premier League fixtures had seen nine goals netted in 90 minutes, but on this day in 2000, a sixth match would be added to the list when West Ham United hosted Bradford City at Upton Park.
At the time, neither side were impressing in the top flight. Despite a fast start to the season, West Ham were in a patch of poor form, while Bradford, competing in the Premier League for the first time, had won on just six occasions from 24 contests.
The first incident of an action-packed afternoon came when Hammers goalkeeper Shaka Hislop collided with Bantams forward Dean Saunders inside the penalty area. It appeared an innocuous clash but it was one that left the Trinidad and Tobago stopper with a suspected broken leg, leaving boss Harry Redknapp to hand a debut to 18-year-old Stephen Bywater.
The teenager struggled to settle, despite playing behind a defence that included Rio Ferdinand and the experienced Igor Stimac, and on the half-hour mark, his lack of confidence was exposed when Peter Beagrie swung a corner into the middle for Dean Windass to powerfully head home unopposed from six yards.
However, it took West Ham just 13 minutes to turn the match around in East London. After Trevor Sinclair had driven the ball into the roof of the net from 10 yards, John Moncur gave his team the lead when he lashed an effort into the far corner from 25 yards with his left foot, despite having to slide in to get his shot away.
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West Ham just needed to reach half time to restore a bit of calm to proceedings but within a minute of edging in front, they were pegged back by the visitors who equalised from the penalty spot. After Moncur had hauled down Saunders, Beagrie stepped up to confidently send Bywater the wrong way to give his team the momentum heading into the break.
Bywater may have been given a morale boost in the changing room at half time but two minutes after the restart, his confidence was shattered after he handed Bradford the lead. Gunnar Halle's 25-yard strike was straight at the youngster, but he could only spill it into the path of Jamie Lawrence, who was able to bundle the ball into an empty net.
The home side found themselves being pushed back by Bradford, and four minutes later, their lead was extended when Lawrence completed a quick-fire double. After dribbling towards the penalty box and cutting inside onto his left foot, the winger's shot drifted over Bywater, who should have done better to prevent the ball dropping under the crossbar.
West Ham were becoming increasingly frustrated, with Paolo Di Canio not shy in showing his displeasure. After seeing a penalty appeal turned down, the flamboyant Italian requested to be substituted by Redknapp, but after being forced to remain on the pitch, his team proceeded to win a spot kick after Paul Kitson had been felled by Andy O'Brien. That wasn't to be the end of the drama, though.
With regular penalty taker Frank Lampard readying himself to try to halve the deficit, Di Canio attempted to wrestle the ball off the young Englishman, who was equally determined to keep hold of the ball. A playground-like tussle ensued before Di Canio finally won the war and proceeded to drive the ball into the corner to give his team hope of an unlikely comeback.
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With 25 minutes remaining, West Ham had worked themselves into the ascendancy again and it only took five minutes for them to level the score at 4-4. Sinclair used all of his pace and trickery to get to the byline before pulling the ball back for Joe Cole to side-foot into the net from three yards for his first ever Premier League goal.
With Bradford dropping deeper into their own final third, West Ham were being given the space to attack their backline and they finally succumbed with seven minutes left on the clock. Di Canio, who had been rejuvenated since his earlier outburst and goal, made his way down the left flank before cutting the ball back to Lampard on the edge of the area. The 21-year-old bided his time before switching the ball onto his weaker left foot, but he managed to find the top corner from 18 yards to cap off a remarkable encounter.
The triumph resulted in West Ham winning six of their next 10 games which would ultimately earn them a top-10 spot, while Bradford, who wouldn't win for nine matches after this defeat, somehow remained in the top flight after putting together three victories and three clean sheets from their last four fixtures.
West Ham United: Hislop, Charles, Ferdinand, Stimac, Lomas, Moncur, Lampard, Cole, Minto, Di Canio, Sinclair
Subs: Bywater, Keller, Carrick, Potts, Kitson
Bradford City: Davison, Halle, Wetherall, O'Brien, Jacobs, Lawrence, McCall, Whalley, Beagrie, Windass, Saunders.
Subs: Southall, Blake, Sharpe, Redfearn, Dreyer
