Balotelli causes fuss in Liverpool

Maverick striker Mario Balotelli managed to upset his Liverpool team-mates despite scoring a late penalty in a 1-0 win over Beşiktaş in the last 32 of the Europa League, one of several first-leg victories for the expected title contenders on Thursday.

Liverpool's stand-in captain, Jordan Henderson, was preparing to take the 85th-minute spot kick at Anfield when Balotelli, a penalty specialist, took the ball off him. Henderson momentarily appeared unhappy, as did Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, but they were soon congratulating Balotelli after he converted for the winning goal.

"Jordan should have taken that penalty. Rules are rules. Mario's been a bit mischievous," said injured Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, speaking in his role as a pundit for British broadcaster ITV. "Jordan is the captain and Mario showed Jordan a bit of disrespect there."

Balotelli is never far from controversy even when he is scoring winning goals. Again he impressed when coming on as a substitute, as he did against Tottenham last week and in an FA Cup win at Crystal Palace on Saturday when his free kick led to the winning goal. It was no surprise to see him seek out the ball after young winger Jordon Ibe was fouled for the penalty that ended Beşiktaş's stubborn resistance. At first, Henderson appeared to be against giving Balotelli the ball but relented, even after Sturridge came to confront Balotelli. "Credit to Mario, he's scored, but it's not nice to see when footballers are arguing," an unhappy-looking Gerrard said. "I think Jordan has handled the situation very well." Henderson congratulated Balotelli after the Italy striker sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot, for his 27th successful penalty conversion from 29 attempts.

"I wanted the penalty," Henderson said. "Mario felt confident and he has taken big penalties before. Everyone wants to take them. I felt confident in Mario, he has taken big penalties before and he got the nod." Balotelli took to Twitter soon after the match, saying: "Thank you hendo for let me take the penalty.. Stop drama now. We won that's what it count."

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has warned his side not to underestimate Beşiktaş. Rodgers underlined that Beşiktaş defend well and posed fellow Premier League side Tottenham problems when they met in the Europa League group stages.

Beşiktaş mangaer Slaven Bilic revealed that he believes Anfield is a special stadium but underlined that he has a decent record. Beşiktaş's star striker Demba Ba alleged that he was fouled before the penalty position. Ba said, "We played well but unfortunately lost. This is sad. But we will make up for it. I said to the fourth referee that I was fouled but he did nothing. Everything will be different in the second leg"

Beşiktaş regulars Ersan Gülüm and Ramon Motta are suspended for the second leg, which will be played on Feb. 26 in Istanbul. The second legs take place next week.

Napoli secured victory much sooner against the other Turkish team Trabzonspor, scoring three times in the opening 27 minutes through Henrique, Gonzalo Higuain and Manolo Gabbiadini, before Duvan Zapata added a fourth in second-half stoppage time in a 4-0 win.