Mario Balotelli scored a brilliant goal in the game against Saint Etienne, and celebrated with an Instagram story.
Mario Balotelli is not new to controversies and taking the centre-stage. When he entered the field against Saint Etienne, he set another trend.
Balotelli is not new to amusing celebrations, and his “Why Always Me” celebration after scoring the goal against Manchester United is still etched in the memory of the fans of both the clubs.
The Marseille striker scored a brilliant bicycle kick goal which gave the French side the lead in the game. However, Balotelli didn’t stop at that.
He went to the stands and took a mobile, logged in to his Instagram and celebrated the goal with an Instagram story!
As weird as it sounds, Balotelli might have just kickstarted a new trend in football. Earlier, Francesco Totti also took a picture with a fan after scoring the goal for Roma.
The Italian striker, who has played for clubs like Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool and Nice in the past, joined Marseille in the winter transfer window earlier this year.
He has been in good goalscoring form ever since joining the side, scoring three in four games. The player struggled earlier in the season with Nice, where he failed to score a single goal in 10 appearances before the transfer.
Balotelli is popularly known for his amusing activities in and outside the football field. Jose Mourinho, who worked with the player during his time at Inter Milan, even described Balotelli as ‘unmanageable.’
Funnily, Mourinho was critical about footballers focussing on their Instagram profile more than needed after the El Clasico on Saturday.
“For me, Rakitic needs to improve his Instagram and his social media because in this moment this is very important and he is not very good on that, he is good on the pitch.
“He’s a fantastic player at every level. He does defensive work on the right hand side to compensate Messi, he runs miles,” Mourinho said.
The former Manchester United manager seemingly took a jibe on Paul Pogba with the comment, as the duo had a training-session argument over Pogba’s Instagram story after the side’s loss against Derby County.
Mario Balotelli famously had a training ground bust-up with Roberto Mancini, the former Manchester City manager. Mancini, who is now the boss of Italian national football team, stated that the striker is wasting his talent.
“I’m sorry to see Balotelli waste his talent the way he does, but I think he can keep people entertained by scoring goals,” Mancini said during the Italian footballer’s goal drought at Nice earlier this season.
“Hope is always the last thing that dies and something clicks in his head. Time passes quickly so he must take the opportunities he has.”
Mancini did call Balotelli up for the national side in May 2018 – his first call-up since 2014, but has since kept him out of the national side owing to poor form. With a suddens surge in goalscoring, Mancini might be forced to re-think about the exclusion of Mario Balotelli from the national setup.
What next?
Marseille beat Saint Etienne 2-0 in the Ligue 1 clash, with Florian Thauvin scoring the second of the night. The side has now climbed up to 4th position in the Ligue 1 table, but remain five points behind Lyon, who are third.
Paris Saint Germain are well on course for another league title in France, as they maintain a massive 17-point gap over the second-placed LOSC.
Monaco, meanwhile, have also improved since the re-appointment of Leonardi Jardim at the club. The side is currently 16th in the league and is unbeaten since over a month. The side also registered a shocking 2-0 win over LOSC last month.
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