After his last appearance off the bench for Manchester City resulted in two bookings and a sending off over a six-minute span against Liverpool, Mario Balotelli once again proved his supreme unpredictability and range by scoring the calmest goal of all time against Norwich. Well, the calmest goal ever scored using one's shoulder, at least.
Entering the match against Norwich in the 72nd minute, when City already had a 3-0 lead, manager Roberto Mancini must have felt it was (relatively) safe to put Mario in. And this time, Mario proved him right.
In the 88th minute, Mario took a pass from Adam Johnson right in front of Norwich's goal. His first shot was deflected up into the air by keeper John Ruddy, but Balotelli followed the ball as it floated towards the goal...
"OK. Time for Mario multiple choice. I can A) Head this in like a boring person who has never made a surprise visit to a women's prison before. B) Ignore the ball and throw the wads of cash money I'm using as shinguards into the stands as an early Christmas present for the people. Or C) I can casually use my shoulder to score like a boss..."
"C for 'Coly crap I'm awesome.'"
"Why always me?"
Balotelli then celebrated with his usual "now what?" poker face and Man City eventually won 5-1. Video of his goal can be seen here.
Photos: AP, Getty, Reuters