Mario Balotelli Scores Penalty for Liverpool Against Besiktas in Europa League

With Steven Gerrard watching from the stands, Liverpool needed a new penalty-taker when they earned a late spot-kick against Besiktas in a Europa League last-32 match on Thursday night. 

It seemed like acting captain Jordan Henderson was going to take it, with Daniel Sturridge also around the ball, but eventually Mario Balotelli stepped up.

The Italian made no mistake, scoring his second goal in three games and building on his fantastic record from the spot in the process.  

It proved to be the only goal of the game. 

"

Goal! Henderson gives penalty duties to Mario Balotelli over Daniel Sturridge and he scores (Vine @ThoughtsOfMario) https://t.co/wbeR7Yr4Tc

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) February 19, 2015"

However, Gerrard, working for ITV on the night, was unhappy that Balotelli seemed to demand the penalty. 

"

ITV get their money's worth from Gerrard who has not pulled any punches on what he sees as "disrespect" shown by Balotelli on the penalty.

— Darren Lewis (@MirrorDarren) February 19, 2015"

"

It's really odd to hear Steven Gerrard call out Mario Balotelli multiple times for what happened, even if he does think that.

— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) February 19, 2015"

"

Europa League: Balotelli goal #penalty... Liverpool 1-0 Besiktas https://t.co/cLzvDk7lli

— Football News Alert (@Footy_Layne24) February 19, 2015"

Henderson, for his part, admitted after the match that he wanted to take the penalty. 

Balotelli tried to defuse the situation after the match with a post on his Instagram page asking people to "Stop the drama."

It seems that even when he's just scoring penalties, Balotelli is still creating headlines. 

[Twitter, Vine]