Balotelli sorry for seeing red

Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli has apologised after being sent off in the club’s Europa League clash on Thursday.

In the second leg of the Round of 16 encounter against Dynamo Kiev at the City of Manchester Stadium, Roberto Mancini’s men – trailing 2-0 after the first leg – lost Balotelli after he challenged for the ball with raised studs and raked his boot down the body of Dynamo defender Goran Popov.

The poor challenge saw the Italian receive a straight red card, hardly helping City’s chances of qualifying. Aleksandar Kolarov pulled a goal back, but City could not convert their dominance into a second goal and duly exited the competition.

Mancini dubbed the challenge as ‘stupid’ after the match, and Balotelli – who was fined over the incident – has now apologised to his team-mates, the club and their supporters.

“I am very sorry to my team-mates in particular that I got sent off so early in such an important game,” Balotelli told the club’s official website.

“I was trying my best for the team as I always do. The ball was in the air and I went for it with my foot high. I never tried to make contact with Popov and I certainly didn’t want to hurt him. In retrospect, however, the tackle was poor.”

“I should have showed more consideration but I was so involved in the game. It was not a good way to repay the manager, who has shown so much faith in me, or the owners and fans who have made me so welcome since I arrived from Italy.”

“I hope they forgive me and see that I want success with Manchester City”.

It was thought that Balotelli could be dropped out of the squad that will travel to Chelsea on Sunday after infuriating Mancini, but the Sky Blues confirmed he would accompany the team down to London and would have some involvement at the Stamford Bridge fixture.