The self-proclaimed second best player in the world will no doubt be patting himself on the back tonight following a three goal haul against Gerard Houllier’s insipid Aston Villa side in Man City‘s 4-0 Eastlands canter.
In the absence of Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli was given the lone striking role for Roberto Mancini’s side and his hat-trick has helped propel the club to the top of the Premier League this evening, though a draw at St Andrews tonight will reinstall Man United at the summit.
Following Tevez’s two goals and an assist at the weekend, 74,000 Fantasy Managers drafted the Argentine into their teams for this afternoon’s match but a sore hamstring meant he was benched for the entirety of the match and will have messed up more than a few team’s Fantasy captaincy decisions.
Balotelli recently grabbed the headlines for his ridiculous line in headgear but today it was all about the football, as he lived up to his own hype with a man of the match performance, albeit two of the goals against the struggling Midlands side were from the penalty spot. This was the first time the Italian has found the net since game week 11, and it’s clear a central striking role is the way to get the best out of his abilities.
However, with Tevez in control of that role when fit, Balotelli will no doubt go back to skulking from positions out wide over the next few weeks all over again. Despite his undoubted skills, this was only the second league game Balotelli has found the net in this season, a statistic which is pretty indicative of both his inconsistency under Mancini and of his unreliability as a Fantasy prospect.
