‘Bicycle kick for Chelsea against Leeds was the goal that gave me the biggest natural high in my career – even Gianfranco Zola was impressed by it’: Eidur Gudjohnsen relives magical Chelsea moment

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Eidur Gudjohnsen has recounted his period at Chelsea, saying that his wonderful goal against Leeds gave him the biggest natural high of a lifetime

Eidur Gudjohnsen celebrates to crowd
Eidur Gudjohnsen is a Chelsea cult hero (Image credit: Getty)

Eidur Gudjohnsen’s time at Chelsea saw many highs - but none more impressive than the goal he scored against Leeds.

The former Blues striker devastated opposition defences for six years - netting 78 goals in  263 games for the West London club. 

But it was his bicycle kick against Leeds that lives fondly in the memory of the 45-year-old today, especially as it even wowed Gianfranco Zola.

Chelsea duo Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Eidur Gudjohnsen spent six years with Chelsea (Image credit: Getty Images)

In 2003 at Stamford Bridge, Frank Lampard charged down the right flank against the Yorkshire club. He swung in a cross to the centre of the box - it looked to be travelling away from Gudjohnsen, but the former Blues player managed to flip himself on his back and strike the ball into the corner of the net, stunning those in the stadium. 

Speaking to FourFourTwo, Gudjohnsen said of the goal: “It’s the one that gave me the biggest natural high. You dream of these things as a kid and practise it thousands of times in the garden or in training; to do it in the Premier League against a big rival like Leeds was very special indeed. 

"I remember Zola telling me after the match, “Eidur, you showed me something special today”. That meant the world to me.”

Gianfranco Zola points to crowd after goal

The strike even wowed Gianfranco Zola (Image credit: PA)

Gudjohnsen left Chelsea in 2006, signing for Barcelona in an £8 million transfer on a four-year contract.

The Icelandic admitted that he had some nerves playing for such a prestigious club but said that he was respected straight away by the players.

"I thought I knew pressure, but you don’t know what pressure is until you walk out at the Camp Nou as a Barcelona player – I had a bit of stage fright.

“I felt the players’ respect straight away, as I’d faced them all a number of times and they knew what I could do. And I thought I knew pressure, due to my previous two seasons winning trophies with Chelsea, but you don’t know what pressure is until you walk out at that stadium as a Barcelona player. It isn’t enough to win – you have to look good doing it. It was the first time in my career that I had a bit of stage fright, going out there. For me, it’s the Mecca of football.”

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Jacque Talbot
Jacque Talbot

Jacque Talbot is a freelance football journalist who predominantly specialises in transfer stories and exclusives. He began his career in 2016 covering the world-renowned Sandbach United, of North West Counties fame, before earning a spot on the sports desks of national papers, where he bounced between several outlets such as Sportbible, the Express, Mirror, and Daily Star. An NCTJ graduate of the News Associates who swapped investigative journalism in the Costa del Sol for football reporting in Northern England, he first wrote for FourFourTwo in December 2023.

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