Balotelli Makes Disappointing Debut
Mario Balotelli did not have a debut to remember for his new club Liverpool after he failed to score, despite numerous chances, against Tottenham during the weekend. The £ 16 million signing was making his debut after having completed his move a few days ago. He was expected to make an instant impact especially given that he is not new to the Premier League. Further, Liverpool at Tottenham have scored a number of goals in recent times. Last season, the fixture finished as a 5-0 victory for Liverpool followed by a 4-0 win at Anfield thus bringing a 9-0 aggregate victory over Tottenham.
Balotelli had a number of chances to open his account for Liverpool with the striker receiving a number of chances especially in the first half. However, the 24-year-old was guilty of some poor finishing, but manager Brendan Rodgers refused to criticise him after the match. Rodgers said that he was extremely pleased with the performance showed by Balotelli. Raheem Sterling the scoring for Liverpool before Steven Gerrard doubled their advantage with a penalty. New summer signing Alberto Moreno scored a goal from left back.
Liverpool will be extremely happy with the result, as it helped them overcome a disappointing 3-1 defeat against Manchester City last week.
“He was excellent. I thought the two boys up front and Raheem in behind were a constant threat. He’s a good guy, he’s worked well this week and I think everyone could see the team effort as he was pressing as much as he could. He was very good,” said the Liverpool manager about Balotelli’s performance against Tottenham. “I think he’s flexible and we’ve tried to develop him to not just be a wide player but to also be able to play on the inside – and I thought he was excellent,” said Rodgers about Raheem Sterling.