Mario Balotelli has done several memorable things during his career, but few better than when he scored the cockiest goal ever for Manchester City.
On December 2, 2011, City manager Roberto Mancini was still annoyed. A week prior, Balotelli had been sent off during a 1-1 draw with Liverpool having been on the pitch just 18 minutes.
Mancini’s ire was understandable: dominating the game, City might have turned that stalemate into a victory, but a clash with Martin Skrtel earned Balotelli, who had come on as a second-half substitute, a second yellow card.
Speaking ahead of City’s next Premier League match, at home against Norwich the next day, Mancini expressed regret at bringing on the 21-year-old.
“Maybe if I had put Edin [Dzeko] on we would have kept 11 players on the pitch,” he said. “This wouldn’t have happened with Edin.”
There was an added threat from the manager. Balotelli, battling for a starting spot with fellow strikers Dzeko and Sergio Aguero (Carlos Tevez was in exile), was told he might not be trusted from the bench in future.
While Mancini also said that Balotelli had “improved a lot” and become an “important player”, the message was clear: grow up, or forget about playing.
Goalscoring as rebellion
In the match against Norwich, Balotelli didn’t start — an ominous sign for a player who has just been told that he’s a bad option from the bench.
Instead, Aguero and Dzeko took to the field together, the former kicking off the scoring after half an hour.
By the time Balotelli was called upon in the 72nd minute, City were 3-0 up courtesy of goals from Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure.
Because of the scoreline, Mancini didn’t require much from Balotelli. The substitution was a gesture of conciliation, a chance for the forward to show he could be effective, hardworking and disciplined at the end of a match.
And in a sense, in a very loose sense, Balotelli took that chance. He wouldn’t get booked or sent off in this match. No rash challenges or rising to the bait of the opposition.
But Balotelli’s actions weren’t what you’d describe as compliant either.
Somehow, in a very Mario Balotelli way, the striker managed to turn the act of doing his job — scoring goals — into an act of rebellion.
This was Mario Balotelli, after you’ve kindly asked him for extra ketchup with your chips, drowning your plate in a river of the sticky red stuff.
This was Mario Balotelli, glint in his eye, being told to clean the office and…
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