Andrey Arshavin's stint in England with Arsenal was, by and large, a forgetful one.
The Russian playmaker arrived at the Emirates Stadium in February 2009 for a then club-record fee of £15m from Zenit St Petersburg. Much was anticipated, but UEFA's Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament member failed to live up to those expectations.
However, five years ago today, there was an exception to the rule as Arshavin made the headlines during an outing at Anfield.
Hosting Liverpool were involved in a battle with rivals Manchester United for the Premier League title, but their chances of glory were severely dented as Arshavin ran riot.
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He broke the deadlock in the 36th minute as Samir Nasri robbed Javier Mascherano of possession deep in Liverpool territory. The Frenchman rolled in Cesc Fabregas, who crossed for Arshavin to find the net via the crossbar.
The Reds rallied after the restart, with headers from Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun putting them in front by the 56th minute.
Back came the visiting North Londoners, though, thanks to another error from the home side. Alvaro Arbeloa was hesitant on the ball with 67 minutes played and Arshavin punished that mistake by firing an effort into the bottom corner of Pepe Reina's net.
Then, just three minutes later, Fabio Aurelio's clearance fell straight to Arshavin inside the area and he duly converted the opportunity from eight yards out to put Arsenal 3-2 up.
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Yet, Arsene Wenger's side were in front for just 120 seconds as Torres claimed his second goal of the evening. The Spanish frontman collected the ball on the half-turn, before holding off the attention of Mikael Silvestre to beat Lukasz Fabianski from the edge of the box.
A draw was of little use to Liverpool and as such they poured forward in search of a winner in the closing stages. It left them vulnerable to the counter-attack and so it proved in the 90th minute as substitute Theo Walcott sped forwards. Having carried the ball well into the Liverpool half, he squared for an unmarked Arshavin, who with Reina approaching, powered his shot just inside the near post.
There was still enough time remaining for Benayoun to earn Liverpool a share of the spoils, but the night belonged to Arshavin.
Speaking after the final whistle, Wenger said of Arshavin to BBC Sport: "He can play everywhere, like all the great players. He scored four goals but he was at the end of some good combination play. He has a lot of tricks and a short back-lift and that makes him very dangerous."
LIVERPOOL: Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio; Alonso, Mascherano; Benayoun, Kuyt (El Zhar), Riera (Babel); Torres
ARSENAL: Fabianski; Sagna, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs; Arshavin, Song, Fabregas, Denilson (Walcott), Nasri; Bendtner (Diaby)
Liam Apicella
