Kanu pulls tricky win out of the hat

LONDON, OCT 24: Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu scored a hat-trick in the closing 15 minutes to snatch an astonishing 3-2 win for Arsenal a...

LONDON, OCT 24: Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu scored a hat-trick in the closing 15 minutes to snatch an astonishing 3-2 win for Arsenal at Chelsea in an all-London English Premiership Derby last night.

Goals from in-form Norwegian forward Tore Andre Flo and Romanian utility man Dan Petrescu had put Chelsea in the driving seat but Kanu struck in the 75th, 83rd and 90th minutes to turn the game on its head and ensure Arsenal go level on points at the top with Leeds, who play Everton today.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was quick to pay tribute to the brilliance of Kanu who only played because Dennis Bergkamp was rested: 8220;The third goal surprised everybody. I thought he shouldn8217;t take the chance to shoot. He looked like he was in position to cross the ball for somebody else but he scored.8221;

The result, however, was a bitter blow for Chelsea boss Gianluca Vialli, who thought his Chelsea side had done enough to secure all three points after taking a 2-0 lead.

Manchester United, meanwhile, saw their titlehopes suffer after a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham. The treble winners had taken a 23rd-minute lead through Ryan Giggs but bad defending allowed Spurs to prevail thanks to goals from Steffen Iversen and an own goal from Paul Scholes before Steve Carr wrapped up the points after the break.

Other results: Liverpool 1 Titi Camara drew Southampton 1 Trond Soltvedt; Bradford City 3 bt Leicester City 1; Sheffield Wednesday 0 drew Coventry; Aston Villa 1 Dion Dublin drew Wimbledon 1 Robbie Earle.

Weah better, say AC Milan

Milan: Liberian striker George Weah headed in the game-winner with one minute left and AC Milan rallied to a 2-1 victory over cross-town rival Internazionale at San Siro Stadium last night.

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It was the second consecutive defeat for Inter, following last Sunday8217;s 1-0 upset at Venezia. It left Inter in a second-place tie with Milan and Juventus in the Serie A standings, one point behind Lazio who had the chance to extend their lead at home against Lecce. In the only other gameplayed yesterday Perugia beat Venezia 2-1.

In Milan, both teams ended the match with 10 men following the expulsions of Inter8217;s Brazilian striker Ronaldo and AC Milan8217;s Argentine defender Fabian Ayala. Ronaldo was ejected in the 31st minute for elbowing Ayala after giving Inter a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick 11 minutes earlier. It was his second goal of the season.

Ukrainian forward Andriy Shevchenko, who replaced Oliver Bierhoff with 22 minutes remaining, scored AC Milan8217;s equaliser in the 74th. It was his seventh goal of the season, keeping him atop the scoring Series A leaders, two ahead of Christian Vieri and Gabriel Batistuta.

Weah, who had wasted a clear scoring chance in the first-half, made it 2-1 in the 89th, with a powerful header from 6 metres.

Other results: Perugia 2 Nicola Amoruso 2 bt Venezia 1 Filippo Maniero.

Bayern continue winning streak

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COLOGNE: Bayern Munich continued their run back into form winning 2-0 at Kaiserslautern after second-half goals from RoqueSanta Cruz and Brazilian Giovane Elber in the match played last night.

Other results: Hertha Berlin 1 Dariusz Wosz drew with VFB Stuttgart 1 Bradley Carnell; Freiburg 0 held Leverkusen 0-0; SSV Ulm 1 bt Unterhaching; Hansa Rostock 2 bt Arminia Bielefeld 1; Schalke 2 bt Eintracht Frankfurt.

Laslandes brace for Bordeaux

Paris: Bordeaux8217;s international Lilian Laslandes scored twice as the defending champions beat eternal rivals Marseille 2-1.

Results: Bordeaux 2 Lilian Laslandes 2 bt Marseille 1 Ivan De La Pena; Rennes 4 Shabani Nonda 2, Stefane Gregoire, Lamine Diatta bt St Etienne 1 Stephane Pedron.