Mario Balotelli made another crucial contribution to Inter’s Scudetto push last night and claims he has one man to thank for his goal against Fiorentina.
The prodigious striker has been a revelation this term and kept Hernan Crespo and David Suazo out of the starting line-up at San Siro yesterday.
Balotelli duly vindicated Roberto Mancini’s decision when he hit the Nerazzurri’s second goal and secured the points against a powerful Fiorentina side, but he claims he had been given some useful advice.
“They say that Sebastien Frey is very good at staying upright until the last minute,” the 17-year-old explained on the Inter Channel.
“My friend Sergio Viotti, who plays in goal for Brescia, told me that if I get into a one-on-one situation I should shoot immediately and so I did.
“I am very, very happy with the goal and the performance as a whole because we played with our hearts.
“It looked like a tough game on paper and it was, especially in the first half. But the Viola dropped off a little after the break and we started to fully impose our game on them.”
Balotelli was on the receiving end of some hard tackles, but he picked up a booking, which he accepts was justified.
“It was a fair yellow card,” he admitted. “I committed a stupid foul. I do get cautioned often and I am provoked a bit, but that’s the way it is.
“I will try and avoid getting any more bookings as I am one away from a suspension.”
