Mario Balotelli has had a better Saturdays.
After spending most of his career zigzagging back and forth from Serie A to the Premier League, the Italian is currently plying his trade with Nice in Ligue 1.
Having started his career in France with a few early goals, some held hopes that a move to France would help kickstart what had once seemed like a promising career.
But, as we’ve come to know with Mario, controversy is never too far away. Against Lorient on Saturday night, the (still only) 26-year-old was sent off after briefly coming into contact with midfielder Zargo Toure. Contact was minimal and it’s since become clear that he was given his marching orders for dissent.
Straight red card for Balotelli. Nothing conclusive on this evidence pic.twitter.com/XzVN0h4OiB
— Patrick Kendrick (@patrickendrick) February 18, 2017
The sending off – his third since he joined Nice in August – wasn’t enough to prevent Balotelli’s teammates winning the game by a single goal. It was enough for the former AC Milan, Manchester City and Liverpool striker to be awarded a 1/10 by L’Équipe.
New career milestone for Mario Balotelli: a 1/10 from @lequipe after getting sent off at Lorient for swearing at the referee pic.twitter.com/TWYbLegG3M
— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) February 19, 2017
To give some kind of context to this rating, Alex Iwobi, Arsenal’s lowest-rated player in their Munich mauling in midweek, still managed to get a 2.
While it’s still unknown what Balotelli said to the referee, Nice’s coach, Lucien Favre, has revealed that his final words to the striker before the game were not to get sent off.
“Before every game, my final words in the changing rooms are to not get a red and not to give away a penalty.”
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