#LUFC Greatest Matches: Magic Cantona Lights up Wembley

Hat-trick hero Cantona celebrating his first goal

We asked Leeds fans what their favourite match was from the past 25 years, and we’ve had some excellent suggestions. The first in the special set of articles comes from Gregg Huish (@HuishGregg) who suggested the game which brought Leeds’ last cup success, a thrilling 4-3 victory in the Charity Shield against Liverpool.

The hero of the day was, of course, Eric Cantona, who netted a stunning hat-trick in one of the best fought matches in recent times. The first goal came from excellent play by Rod Wallace, who himself caused problems for the Liverpool defence. A neat cut-back left Cantona with enough time to smash the ball past Bruce Grobbelaar, and give Leeds a perfect start. But after 34 minutes Liverpool were level after a near-post header from Ian Rush.

Less than ten minutes later, after some neat build up play, Leeds received a free kick which Tony Dorigo duly obliged to take, which skewed off the wall before nestling in the bottom left corner of the net. Leeds were back in the lead before half time, and Wembley was rocking to the sound of “Marching On Together.” Liverpool manager Graham Souness changed things around after half time, giving former Doncaster Rovers manager Dean Saunders a more central role, which paid off in the 65th minute when Saunders received a slice of luck to emphatically score past John Lukic. Arguably the best goal of the game came from the ominous Cantona, who hit a fierce shot into the goal from a McAllister free-kick. Wallace darted into the box, and after a brief scramble, the ball fell for Cantona to fly past Grobbelaar, and the hysterical Leeds crowd went mad with delight.

The 4th goal, and Cantona’s hat-trick, was in no small part down to the ball bouncing kindly off the corner flag, for Wallace to kink a cross to the back post. Grobbelaar misjudged the ball, Cantona did not. With the game all but over, Gordon Strachan produced what must be the strangest own goals in Wembley history, juggling the ball between his heels before letting it stray over the line.

If you want to share your most memorable Leeds game from the past 25 years, get in touch on Twitter, @jakerleedsblog

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