Disbelief. Sheer disbelief is etched across Andrey Arshavin's face as he wags four fingers at the Arsenal fans going berserk in the Anfield Road End.
The Russian's fourth shot on goal has been buried into the back of Pepe Reina's net and Liverpool's quest for a 19th league title has been punctured.
Arshavin has four after racing from the edge of his own 18-yard box to Liverpool's and thumping home from Theo Walcott's breakaway.
Yossi Benayoun has the last word, bundling home deep into five minutes of added time to rescue a point for the home side, but the damage has already been done.
The spoils are shared, but Arshavin is the only victor on that astonishing night at Anfield 10 years ago.
Liverpool's wait for a first Premier League triumph would go on, and indeed it still is 10 years later.
It was already beginning to look like a tall order for Rafa Benitez to restore Liverpool's place at the summit of English football. They could afford no slip-ups.
Manchester United had a one-point lead at the top and a game in hand with five to go after Arsenal's trip to Merseyside on April 21, 2009.
Liverpool had won five on the spin, including a 4-1 rout at Old Trafford, while United had been teetering.
Federico Macheda's late winners against Aston Villa and Sunderland halted a run of two straight defeats.
After sharing an eight-goal thriller with Chelsea in the Champions League a week earlier, Liverpool fans could be forgiven for expecting an easier ride when Arsenal rode into town.
Arshavin had other ideas.
This was the night he truly announced himself, the night where he indelibly left his mark on English football. And yet that mark, besides a winning goal against Barcelona just under two years later, never stretched any further.
He was no stranger to fans in this country when he arrived for £15m in February 2009. It had been a move over six months in the making.
He was 27 and had the world at his feet when he returned from suspension to guide Russia into the quarter-finals at Euro 2008. He had already helped dump England out in the qualifying stage, and spearheaded Zenit St Petersburg's UEFA Cup triumph.
Then he masterminded the upset of the tournament, as Russia surprised a rampant Holland in a thrilling 3-1 win in Basle.
Suitors across Europe stood up and took notice. Arshavin was desperate to move but was denied the opportunity of joining Barcelona as Zenit dug their heels in.
It was seen as a coup for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, as if their saviour had arrived gliding across the winds of winter. Fans gathered to meet him as snow enveloped North London and threatened to derail the transfer.
He returned a healthy two goals and five assists from his first seven starts. A slaloming solo strike against Blackburn was confirmation of his talent.
But a trip to title-chasing Liverpool on a balmy April evening proved the occasion he was waiting for.
Benitez's side were on a roll and started like a train that night. The red shirts swamped those in yellow, despite the absence of Steven Gerrard through injury.
Fernando Torres, Albert Riera and Javier Mascherano all had shots from distance before Samir Nasri cleared a Daniel Agger header off the line.
Yet it was the visitors who drew first blood with 35 minutes on the clock.
Goal No 1. With flicks and tricks, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas drew their way into the Liverpool area and an unmarked Arshavin stabbed home off the underside of the bar. 0-1.
Anfield was shaken, but Liverpool stirred straight back to life. They pepper Lukasz Fabianski's goal but to no avail. Four minutes into the second half and Torres plants a header from Dirk Kuyt's golf chip of a cross to level the scores. 1-1.
Anfield erupts and Liverpool pour forward. Kuyt provides another, floating a cross to the back post that a combination of Yossi Benayoun and Bacary Sagna claw over the line despite the best efforts of the keeper. 2-1.
Goal No 2. Alvaro Arbeloa is caught napping by Arshavin after a knock down from Jamie Carragher lands short. Agger fails to shut down the angle and Arshavin unleashes a rasping drive from 20 yards that bends into the far corner. 2-2.
Xabi Alonso races to get the ball out of the net but the hosts are rocking, their attacking zest betrayed by sloppy defensive errors. It is an uncharacteristic feature of Benitez-era Liverpool, but a natural consequence of the aggressive attacking style that had taken hold over the spring.
Goal No 3. Three minutes later and the hat-trick is complete. Nasri's cross is met by a lazy swish of the left foot from Fabio Aurelio. Arshavin needs just one touch to control before a low drive under the body of Reina. 2-3.
Liverpool respond within two minutes as Riera's fizzed cross to the edge of the area is instantly controlled by Torres, who swivels, makes room for the shot and powers it low into the corner. 3-3.
Nicklas Bendtner has a goal ruled out for offside. Torres has a header cleared off the line by Kieran Gibbs. Carragher volleys inches wide from the edge of the area.
Goal No 4. And as stoppage-time sets in, Arsenal break and Liverpool have only Alonso back. Theo Walcott emerges with the ball, and racing away like the Road Runner at the bottom of the screen is Arshavin. Within seconds the Gunners have a fourth; Arshavin has a fourth. 3-4.
And still Liverpool pile forward. Nabil El Zhar, on for Kuyt, stings the palms of Fabianski. In the 93rd minute Mascherano heads an Alonso ball across goal, Babel nods it down and Benayoun scuffs it into the net. 4-4.
Arsenal still find time to have another goal disallowed as Fabregas darts in on goal a fraction too soon. Liverpool want a penalty as they claim a handball from Abou Diaby.
Howard Webb blows his whistle, only to end a helter-skelter game of football.
Arshavin had 52 touches, made only 26 passes and scored with all four of his - and Arsenal's - shots on target. Every 13th touch was a goal.
He saw less of the ball than team-mates Nasri, Fabregas and Bendtner and made far fewer passes. He shaped the game without doing anything to shape it, except the most important thing of all; putting the round thing in the rectangular thing.
One point gained for Liverpool, but crucially two dropped. Reina sinks to his knees with his head in his gloves. Benayoun goes down on his haunches. Torres greets Arshavin and congratulates the four-goal star.
Anfield breathes a deep sigh, resigned to the prospect of Manchester United drawing level with their record of 18 league titles.
The end is an anti-climax. Nobody takes the spoils. Only Arshavin and a place in Premier League folklore.
The following evening United ease past Portsmouth 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick goals. They return to the top of the table by three points with a game in hand.
Liverpool don't drop any more points that season. But neither do United, sealing a hat-trick of Premier League crowns and the last side to retain the trophy.
The 90 minutes not only brought the curtain down on Liverpool's tilt at the title but has come to define Arshavin's career in England. It is 'The Arshavin Game'.
He is the misfit who came, threatened to conquer, but never came close. The owner of one of the most astonishing performances in Premier League history, yet never feature near anyone's top 100 players.
He was a mercurial figure, whose talents fit on a football pitch but who on a personal level got swept up in the grand fish bowl that is London.
He was apparently a fan of the West End, and got through performances of Wicked, the Nutcracker and Chicago.
Lifestyle came to be seen as the obvious reason why such a talent fell so spectacularly from view. The reason he made only 38 appearances and scored three goals in his final two seasons.
'He was very closed in the dressing room,' former team-mate Manuel Almunia told Bleacher Report. 'He really wasn't open to us at all, and I think he wasn't happy in London.
'When you have a problem in your life, I think it helps if you have people around that you can talk to and share your problem with.
'If you can share the things that are happening in your life, then in the end you feel better. But Andrey was an introvert.'
He was aloof, but hardly the shy and retiring type, and never shy from an outrageous headline. In December last year he was pictured leaving a St Petersburg strip club on a horse.
He holds a degree in Fashion Design, and said in Sportsmail in 2009: 'When I turned 17, I had to choose which university to attend.
'My friends and I decided to try for the technology and design institute because there were lots of girls among the students and you didn't have to study too hard, or so we thought. I enrolled in the chemical technology department.
'But when I began training with Zenit I had to miss a lot of classes. I transferred to the clothes design department. I have designed several garments myself.'
His personal website, now shut down, was a treasure trove of anecdotes during his regular Q&A sessions.
'If you plan to lead a communist uprising in the UK,' one fan wrote, 'I would gladly help you storm Buckingham Palace.'
Arshavin replied: 'Here in England I often catch myself thinking that everything here will be just the same in a hundred years' time and even after that, everything will be just the way it is now. Don't change anything, you don't need any revolutions.'
Another time he said, 'I do not sing in the shower, in fact, I rarely take a shower. I prefer to soak in the tub and think quietly to myself.'
And also this: 'I once rode a horse bareback in the village. It was very slippery. I was a small boy then.
'I was barely holding its mane when suddenly it bolted and I almost fell into a pile of manure. After that, I never sat on a horse again.'
It wasn't all philosophising and hilarity, however. He made a string of unsavoury, misogynistic comments too.
When asked what he would say if his daughter wanted to play football, he replied: 'I hope it will never happen.'
On at least two separate occasions he told a young girl to listen to her parents when they forbid her from taking up the sport.
He suggested another could become a nurse as she couldn't join the army.
Whenever it comes to appraising Arshavin's spell in England it is difficult to ignore the off-field circus. It made him the character that beguiled so many, when his minutes on the pitch dwindled.
He became seen as the embodiment of mid-to-late-Wenger Arsenal excess; another flashy artisan who could not quite fit into the system. A gifted maverick or a wasted talent? Probably both.
The winner against Barcelona in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie in 2011 was a false dawn, and failed to spring a turnaround. Arsenal lost 3-1 at the Nou Camp in the return leg, and Pep Guardiola's side sent Manchester United on a carousel ride in the final at Wembley.
He returned to Zenit in June 2013 after his star had well and truly waned. At 32 he was into his twilight, and moved on to Kuban Krasnodar in 2015 before finishing his career in Kazakhstan.
Arshavin spent three years with Premier League outfit Kairat, finally calling it a day after a goalless draw against Shakhter Karagandy in November 2018.
He has returned to St Petersburg, and reportedly plans to head a new academy back at Zenit.
Perhaps the last word should go to Arshavin himself, 'I want to say thank you for supporting me over these three years. I hope I left a bit of myself here.'
It is fair to say Arshavin left a bit of him everywhere he went. How much really remains a mystery.
naelkayyali
2
It ended 4-4, so how did it end the title hope? Before Chelsea match, you people are talking about Gerrard slip. We beat Chelsea, now it is Asharvin goals ten years ago! Haters will be disgraced this season! Bad Belle People
let them talk about the past cause there present and future is darker than my balck Nike shoe
EMMATUNDE
2
It ended 4-4, so how did it end the title hope? Before Chelsea match, you people are talking about Gerrard slip. We beat Chelsea, now it is Asharvin goals ten years ago! Haters will be disgraced this season! Bad Belle People
naelkayyali
4
that was way long time ago but now Liverpool can crash Arsenal 5-1 easily
softgid
9
Like if you didn't read the full article
Oluwole12
0
The man, the myth, the legend, Better than all of current Arsenal players combined
[image]
You’re stupid
Ravisen
0
It was Benitez getting involved with Ferguson's mind games that cost us. I remember the press conference he had. Also Carragher being slow as a tortoise.
so bad
Ravisen
0
From russia with love
he was a good player
Ravisen
0
They didn't have van dijk that time
the kops are stronger now
Ravisen
0
liverpool's nightmare
lolz liverpool is ahead of the gunners
SINGAM23
5
and to a flickering Moments, those whom crushed the Title Hopes of Liverpool has long gone into Hard Time Memories (Arshavin, Gerrard)... But Liverpool and their Momentum LIVES ON
Kroos0808
0
liverpool's nightmare
Kennethlie
0
The Russian Little Maestro 👑👑
FCBribery
0
feels like yesterday
Parker09
0
They didn't have van dijk that time
potatoe
17
On this day 10 years ago, Andrey Arshavin scored four goals in Arsenal's 4-4 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. Of the 35 instances of a player scoring 4+ goals in a PremierLeague match, he's the only one to have not ended on the winning team.
pOdyssey
3
The man, the myth, the legend, Better than all of current Arsenal players combined
Everettee
0
What a day that was. Still can’t believe that we threw it away at the end, and so late on. One the games I will always remember.
front
0
Now he is working as a Sales man
emphasi
0
Unfortunately, he finished his career
Jamesparker
0
Ten years already. Still like yesterday to me
Robberyone
0
one of the best games I've watched btw
priscillaa
1
From russia with love
sogani
0
Still can't win after scoring 4 goals. The match ended 4-4 🤣🤣🤣
eyebrower
0
It was Benitez getting involved with Ferguson's mind games that cost us. I remember the press conference he had. Also Carragher being slow as a tortoise.
pololove
0
Liverpool had the best chance to win it that season. Home form cost them.
halamardi
0
He dabbled in fashion, and lost his passion for football. Bellerin beware.
Neilmike
0
4 brilliant goals
Spartacus_Aye419
0
From Arsenal's Arshavin to Chelsea's Demba Ba...... I really don't know why these Guys likes to end Liverpool's tittle Hopes. I Pray Manchester United do Liverpool a Big Favor this year so they can win it
blackhappy
0
He was terrific at Euro 2008
Martabeed
0
No wonder carragher hates Arsenal so much.
Lawrencium
1
I remember watching that game at home. It totally killed Liverpool's title hopes that year. As a Liverpool fan, Arshavin was a great player, super fast, and a great left foot. It's sad how he was in elite form and then he came down.
Christophers
1
So much talent wasted
cuzbdlmuz
2
i remember that. After that he stopped scoring and lost his place until he had to find another club