Mario Balotelli: How Liverpool fans saved him from a red card vs Man Utd in 2015 | OneFootball

Mario Balotelli’s time at Liverpool was most certainly tumultuous.

Handed a second chance at life in the Premier League by Brendan Rodgers, ‘Super Mario’ simply couldn’t rekindle the form that he showed during his better moments in a Manchester City shirt.

Despite arriving on Merseyside in great form having scored 30 goals in just 54 matches for AC Milan, Balotelli simply couldn’t live up to the expectations of filling Luis Suarez’s boots just in the way that Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini couldn’t either.

How many goals did Balotelli score for Liverpool?

In the end, Balotelli waved goodbye to Anfield with a miserable record of just four goals in 28 games, which featured only a single conversion in Premier League football.

It made for a miserable one-year stint at the end of which Balotelli was loaned back to AC Milan, before being permanently sold to Nice the next summer never to be seen in English football again.

However, for what Balotelli's time in the famous red jersey lacked in terms of quality, it certainly made up for in controversy with there seldom being a dull moment throughout his stay at the club.

Liverpool 1-2 Man Utd in 2014/15

Here at GIVEMESPORT, forever astonished by the back catalogue of remarkable Balotelli moments, we recently looked back at when Manchester United came to town in March 2015.

In a game most famous for Juan Mata's stunning bicycle kick as the Red Devils ran away 2-1 victors, Balotelli didn't take kindly to being jeered by the away fans as he left Anfield.

But believe it or not, it wasn't the only viral moment that Balotelli produced that afternoon, which is pretty staggering when you consider that he only entered the action as a 66th-minute substitute.

Balotelli saved from red card by Liverpool fans

However, over the course of that half-hour outing, Balotelli almost found himself sent off just in the way that his teammate Steven Gerrard had been across his infamous 38-second cameo.

Having picked up a yellow card within moments of coming on for a bad foul on Phil Jones, the Italian needed the Liverpool fans in attendance to save him from a potential second booking.

Yes, you really did read that right, because Balotelli looked just about ready to square up to Chris Smalling in the 79th minute after a tangle that ended up with him crashing into the advertising hoardings.

But in a moment almost too perfect to be true - only, it really is - the former Inter Milan star didn't have the chance because he was held back by Liverpool fans who were just inches away.

The quick-thinking supporters in attendance were able to keep Balotelli away from his United rival until he'd calmed down in truly surreal scenes that you can check out for yourself below:

You couldn't write it, could you?

What did Balotelli think about the incident?

The Kopites knew as soon as Balotelli ended up in a tangle of limbs with Smalling that he would have wanted to have given him a piece of his mind - and they didn't want to let him take the risk.

Besides, all it could have taken for Balotelli to pick up a yellow card and see Liverpool reduced to nine men would have been a split-second of argy-bargy or dissent that the referee didn't stand for.

And Balotelli was very grateful for the Liverpool fans with the Independent explaining that he posted a picture of the incident onto his Facebook page with the caption: "Besides all efforts the game didn’t go our way. But one thing was real clear: I wasn’t alone on the pitch. YNWA."

That's for sure, Mario, because otherwise an already tumultuous spell on Merseyside could have plunged to even deeper depths! The Liverpool fans truly are always behind their players...

Arsenal CLEAR AT THE TOP📈 Klopp MASTERCLASS vs City🔴 Mo Salah WORLD CLASS🏆 Title Race DEBATE (Football Terrace)