Liverpool vs Arsenal: Classic match - Andrey Arshavin scores four in 4-4 Anfield draw

Without their talismanic captain Steven Gerrard, Benitez's side still began with ferocious intent, pinning Arsene Wenger's visitors deep inside their own half. Spearheaded by a relentless Torres, the hosts laid siege to goal, only to find an unlikely barrier in Lukasz Fabianski. Heavily criticised after an FA Cup semi-final defeat just days earlier, the Polish keeper produced an inspired first-half display, twice denying Torres before palming away Benayoun's drive.

Football, however, rarely rewards dominance without ruthlessness. Nine minutes before the interval, Javier Mascherano was caught in possession, allowing Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas to carve open the home defence for Arshavin to crash a finish off the underside of the bar. Backed by a wall of sound from the Kop after the break, Liverpool overturned the deficit within eleven minutes. Dirk Kuyt turned creator twice, crossing for Torres to power home a 49th-minute header before finding Benayoun at the far post to loop a brave finish beyond Fabianski.

Just as Anfield sensed victory, the lavishly gifted Arshavin turned tormentor across three mid-half minutes. In the 67th minute, the Russian robbed a hesitant Alvaro Arbeloa to flash a stunning 20-yard drive past Pepe Reina, before capitalising on Fabio Aurelio's sliced clearance to slot home Arsenal's third. Yet the chaos barely paused; within two minutes, Torres spun sharply to equalise once more, and only Kieran Gibbs clearing off the line denied the Spaniard a treble.

With time expiring, Liverpool threw caution to the wind and suffered a classic sucker punch. From a home corner in the 90th minute, substitute Theo Walcott led a blistering counter-attack to tee up Arshavin for an emphatic fourth. Defeat loomed until deep into five frantic minutes of stoppage time, when Benayoun scrambled the ball home in a crowded area to salvage a 4-4 draw, before referee Howard Webb ignored a final handball shout against Abou Diaby.

When the final whistle sounded, the exhausted players departed to a richly deserved standing ovation. This was never a contest for the coaches or tacticians, strewn as it was with defensive errors, yet for any lover of football it remained a magnificent spectacle elevated by extraordinary talent.

For Liverpool, however, the relief of a late equaliser masked a bitter truth. Though the solitary point lifted them above Manchester United on goal difference, Sir Alex Ferguson's reigning champions held two crucial games in hand. On a night when Anfield needed cold control, they found only glorious pandemonium, leaving their title ambitions scarred by Arshavin's four-goal masterclass.