Arsenal left-back Andre Santos has claimed that he had to put Mario Balotelli “in his place” during the Gunners’ 1-0 triumph of Manchester City on Sunday, April 8.
The Brazilian international replaced Kieran Gibbs in the 56th minute, and picked up a yellow card almost immediately after he brought down Balotelli, quite cynically I may add.
Santos tried to convince the referee that Balotelli took a dive, but his intentions were obvious to be perfectly honest.
Nonetheless, Balotelli may have had it coming after making a few “rash” challenges in the first half.
“In the first half Balotelli almost broke Song’s leg, than he harshly tackled Sagna. Someone had to be hard on him, put him in his place,” the full-back told ESPN Brasil.
“Someone had to say something to him because he was doing what he wanted, and that’s not how things work.
“I was watching from the bench. When I was on the pitch I’d have the job to mark him, and that’s what I did. It’s part of the game.”
Eventually, Super Mario was sent off in the 90th minute after making a late challenge on Bacary Sagna.
Following his dismissal, rumours emerged that Balotelli would be leaving Manchester City in the summer.
However, recent reports seem to suggest that the Italian striker will stay at the Etihad Stadium.
That raises the following question: should Manchester City sell Mario Balotelli?
From a football standpoint, Mario Balotelli is one of the finest forwards in the world, and his 13 goals in 22 English Premier League appearances (14 starts) in 2011-12 confirms exactly that.
On the other hand, the striker always seems to find himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. With Balotelli, the distractions are always going to be there.
Now then, is he worth the antics? Let’s find out with this segment called “pros and cons”.
Super Mario: Pros and Cons
Pro: He’s got a fantastic goal-scoring ratio.
Con: He also has an equally eye-opening red card ratio.
Pro: Balotelli is a lock to score from the penalty spot.
Con: The Italian is also almost a lock to pick up a yellow card.
Pro: He can score from anywhere on the pitch.
Con: He thinks he can score from anywhere on the pitch.
Pro: He never turns down a chance to take a free-kick.
Con: He argues with his teammates on who should take free-kicks.
Surely you get the point now. Hopefully this back-and-forth banter helped make your day a bit more amusing. If not, I apologize. Cheers.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
