Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard accused Mario Balotelli of 'showing disrespect' to stand-in skipper Jordan Henderson as he insisted on taking the penalty that secured his side a valuable 1-0 victory in the first leg of their Europa League clash with Besiktas.
Gerrard, who missed the game through injury, confirmed Henderson was the designated penalty taker for the Reds and yet it was Balotelli who wrestled the ball from the grasp of the England midfielder to take the spot kick.
Gerrard was not impressed with the attitude of the match-winner and made his feelings clear as he spoke to ITV Sport.
"Jordan is the captain and Mario would have seen that Jordan was on penalties and he has shown him a but of disrespect there, but he we have got away with it," said Gerrard. "If I was on the pitch, I'd have taken the penalty, that's what would have happened. Basically Jordan Henderson should have taken that penalty and Mario has been a bit mischievous by standing in front of him and going against the manager's plan.
"Fair play to him, he finished the penalty off, but it would have been very interesting in that dressing room if he had missed the penalty. It's a fantastic penalty, it's a big goal and fair play to him, but it's more than that.
"Around six or seven people in the team would have wanted to take that penalty, so what happens if six or seven people are fighting over the ball around the penalty spot.
"It's not nice to see players taking the ball off each other on a penalty. For me, rules are rules and codes are codes inside a dressing room. When a manager selects a penalty taker, that penalty taker should take it. It should have been Henderson.
"Jordan handled the situation very well. He knows Mario wants the penalty really badly, Mario is desperate to get on the score sheet. He has stepped away at the right time because I don't like to see it when players are fighting over the ball. It's not right for the image of the game.
"At the end of the day, what's important for myself and all the fans here is we got the win and it has put us in a very good position for next week."
Balotelli went to Instagram and thanked Henderson for the opportunity to take the shot:
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