Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, has criticized Mario Balotelli, for ignoring team orders to take the penalty in Thursday’s 1-0 win over Besiktas, in their Europa League last-32 match.
The Italian striker took the ball off skipper for the night Jordan Henderson and tucked the spot-kick away, after Jordan Ibe had been fouled inside the area.
Gerrard, who was absent because of injury, expressed his disappointment with Balotelli’s behaviour.
“Jordan should have taken the penalty. Rules are rules. It should have been Henderson. Mario has been a bit mischievous,” Gerrard told ITV.
The former England midfielder, however praised Balotelli’s composure, as he put away the winning goal.
“Credit to Mario, he’s scored, but it’s not nice to see when footballers are arguing.
“I think Jordan has handled the situation very well. He can see that Mario really wanted to score. Jordan walked away at the right moment and handled his post match interview very well.
“Jordan is the captain and Mario showed Jordan a bit of disrespect there, but he’s scored a very important goal. I think six or seven players would have wanted to take that penalty so if they all say they are taking it, what happens then?! Rules are in place for a reason.”
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