10 Moments That Define Mario Balotelli's Career

10. Giving Norwich the Cold Shoulder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ENdin59iec Latching onto a through ball in the dying minutes of a game Manchester City led 3-1, Balotelli tried to slip it through the legs of the onrushing Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy. Alas, he would be thwarted, with Ruddy's outstretched right leg diverting the ball into the air, towards an empty net. All eyes on Balotelli - with no defenders in reasonable distance to clear the ball, would he simply watch gravity take care of matters and let the ball apathetically bobble over the line, or would there be a little party piece for the City supporters? It's never a question with Mario. It's rare to find just one body movement brimming with such confidence, arrogance and nonchalance, but it was delivered in an instant, with the Italian choosing to wait for the looping ball to drop out of the sky before shouldering it into an empty net with aplomb. Turning to face his City team-mates, there was no inclination of a cheeky grin, or an admission of cockiness - his colleagues were simply met with a stony-faced visage, as if he had just scored his seventh of the day in a five-a-side training session. While Canaries supporters might have found his manner unnecessary and even a tad disrespectful, it was incidents such as these which endeared the Italian to the British audience.