 Bergkamp was instrumental the following season in helping Arsenal complete a domestic league and cup double . He became the club 's top scorer with 22 goals and recorded a strike rate of 0 @.@ 57 . Arsenal 's achievement was all the more astonishing given that the team , written off by many in December 1997 , had made ground on reigning Premier League champions Manchester United . Early in the season away to Leicester City at Filbert Street on 23 August 1997 , Bergkamp scored his first hat @-@ trick for the club . The third goal , which he regarded as his favourite for Arsenal , required just one touch to control the ball in the penalty box , another to flick it past his marker Matt Elliott before juggling it with his feet and shooting past goalkeeper Kasey Keller . After the match , Leicester manager Martin O 'Neill was gracious enough to admit that Bergkamp 's was " the best hat @-@ trick I 've ever seen " . In an FA Cup quarter @-@ final replay against West Ham United on 17 March 1998 , Bergkamp was sent off for elbowing midfielder Steve Lomas and missed three matches due to suspension . He played no further part in Arsenal 's season after overstretching his hamstring against Derby County on 29 April 1998 , missing the 1998 FA Cup Final . Bergkamp was consoled with the PFA Players ' Player of the Year award , becoming only the third non @-@ British player to be recognised by his fellow professionals as the outstanding performer in English football . 
