Why always Mario Balotelli? Love him or loathe him, the fiery Italian's ability could never be questioned. His attitude, at least some of the time, could have been, though.
In the build-up to the Manchester derby at Old Trafford two years ago today, the Manchester City striker decided to put on a firework display in his own bathroom! Unsurprisingly, the Cheshire Fire Service were required.
Manager Roberto Mancini kept faith with the striker, though, by including him in his starting lineup for the short trip across the city to Manchester United.
It seemed that you couldn't keep Balotelli out of the headlines, but at least on this occasion, it was for all the right reasons. With 22 minutes on the clock, James Milner cut the ball back for his teammate, who slotted it into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. In celebration, he revealed a message underneath his shirt that read: 'Why Always Me?'.
Balotelli was then involved in the moment that shaped the entire outcome of the encounter just shortly after the restart. The City frontman was through on goal, only to be upended by United defender Jonny Evans. The Northern Ireland international was red carded and soon after Balotelli doubled his team's advantage, again from a Milner cross.
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Sergio Aguero added a third in the 68th minute and while Darren Fletcher reduced the deficit with a curling effort from distance in the closing stages, City weren't done.
They scored three times in stoppage time, twice through substitute Edin Dzeko and once courtesy of David Silva, to inflict United's biggest home defeat on them since 1955. The winners on that occasion was also City, who left with a 5-0 victory.
"It is important for our confidence because it isn't easy to come here and beat United. I have more respect for United now because after the sending off they continued to play to try and score I think this is an incredible mentality. If we want to improve and to arrive at the top like them, we should improve in this mentality," Mancini told reporters during his post-match interview.
Meanwhile, a shocked Sir Alex Ferguson added: "It was a bad one and I can't believe it. The red card killed us."
The rivals would go on to contest the Premier League title right down to the wire, with City snatching it from United on goal difference thanks Aguero's dramatic injury-time winner against Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the campaign.
Man United: De Gea; Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Nani (Hernandez 65), Fletcher, Anderson (Jones 66), Young; Rooney, Welbeck
Man City: Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Y Toure, Barry, Milner (Kolarov 89), Silva; Balotelli (Dzeko 70), Aguero
Liam Apicella
