Talented striker Mario Balotelli capped the Turkish Süper Lig season in spectacular fashion as he scored a whopping five goals for Adana Demirspor on Sunday, making headlines around the world.
Nicknamed "Super Mario," the Italian forward scored his first goal in the 33rd minute and his fifth in the 70th in a 7-0 drubbing of relegated side Göztepe.
The five-goal haul – which had a magical goal that included multiple stepovers before he found the net with a "rabona" – allowed the Italian striker to shoot up the league's scoring charts.
Mario Balotelli scored today
Come for the stepovers
Stay for the rabona @AdsKulubu | #Puskas pic.twitter.com/rgWtMvELQN
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) May 22, 2022
Balotelli finished the season with 18 goals, two shy of top scorer Umut Bozok of Istanbul club Kasımpaşa.
Also known for his tough playing style, Balotelli was shown 10 yellow cards throughout the season, along with five others, one less than Ibrahim Akdağ of Yukatel Kayserispor's 11 yellow cards.
This was the first five-goal run in the Turkish Süper Lig since Fenerbahçe midfielder Alex de Souza's performance against Ankaragücü in 2011.
Once Italy's main striker and the top scorer at Euro 2012, the 31-year-old Balotelli seemed to have lost his way when he played last season in the country's second-tier Serie B with Monza before joining then newly promoted Adana Demirspor last year.
Having last played for Italy in 2018, Balotelli was called up for a training camp earlier this year, reviving hopes he would play for the Azzurri again.
But national team coach Roberto Mancini, who coached him at Inter Milan and Manchester City, did not name him in the World Cup playoffs squad as Italy crashed out and failed to qualify.
Balotelli provided the league-winning assist in stoppage time for Sergio Aguero in 2012 when City beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 and pipped rival Manchester United to the Premier League title on goal difference.
On Sunday, as Balotelli scored five, history repeated itself at the Etihad Stadium as City came back to beat Aston Villa 3-2 to seal another league title.
In its first season in the top tier of Turkish football since the 1994-1995 season, Adana Demirspor, led by Italian coach Vincenzo Montella, finished ninth with 55 points.
Göztepe, which was relegated four weeks into the end of the season, capped the season 19th with 28 points. Its departure along with another Izmir club, Altay, means that Turkey's third-largest city will not be represented in the Süper Lig next season.
