It is fair to say that Mario Balotelli's time at Liverpool has not gone to plan so far.
The £16m man, once touted as one of the brightest young prospects in world football, has not started a match since early November and is still searching for his first Premier League goal for the club.
However, three years ago, the Italian was proving himself to be an integral member of a Manchester City squad that would go on to win the title for the first time since 1968.
Aside from the assist for that Sergio Aguero goal on the final day of the season, perhaps his most important contribution of the campaign came on this day in 2012.
City welcomed high-flying Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad Stadium looking to maintain their perfect home record in the league, while victory for third-placed Spurs would have seen them move to within two points of the leaders.
Despite there being so much at stake, the first half was a relatively tepid affair, with chances few and far between at both ends of the field.
It was City who were asking most of the questions, with Aguero seeing a shot blocked by teammate Edin Dzeko and David Silva putting an effort just past the post.
Aguero threatened once more before the break, latching on to a pass from Micah Richards, only to be denied by Brad Friedel.
The match came to life in the second half, however, and City were ahead little more than 10 minutes after the restart when Samir Nasri rifled a shot past Friedel.
That sparked a flurry of goals, and the hosts found themselves two up within three minutes as Joleon Lescott bundled home Nasri's corner following Dzeko's flick.
Any City fans who thought they were in for a comfortable final 30 minutes were brought crashing back down to earth, however, as Spurs pulled one back just a minute later. Jermain Defoe pounced on a poor backward header from Stefan Savic before rounding Joe Hart and slotting home.
Dzeko then squandered a decent opportunity at the other end, and he was punished shortly afterwards when Aaron Lennon found Gareth Bale, who curled an effort past Hart to cap off a frantic spell of four goals in nine minutes.
With the scores level, Roberto Mancini turned to Balotelli from the bench, and the controversial striker once again stole the headlines for better and worse.
Spurs were left claiming that he should not have been on the field after he appeared to stamp on the head of Scott Parker, but the incident went unnoticed by referee Howard Webb.
Defoe was inches away from giving his side the lead when he failed to connect with a Bale cross, but predictably it was Balotelli who had the final say.
The Italian was fouled by Ledley King inside the box and, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, held his nerve to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory for his side.
The three points proved crucial as City went on to pip neighbours Manchester United to the title on goal difference, while Spurs finished one point behind Arsenal in fourth and missed out on Champions League football due to Chelsea winning the competition that year.
