Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has insisted Mario Balotelli shouldn't have overruled penalty instructions after the Italian argued with Jordan Henderson on the pitch.
Read: Balotelli Rescues Liverpool
Balotelli eventually took the spot kick and scored Liverpool's important winner in the 85th minute of their UEFA Europa League clash against Besiktas, but Gerrard was not happy with the Italian's conduct.
"Jordan should have taken the penalty. Rules are rules. It should have been Henderson. Mario has been a bit mischievous," he told ITV.
"Credit to Mario, he's scored, but it's not nice to see when footballers are arguing."
Henderson was Liverpool's skipper of the night and seemingly first in line to replace Gerrard's spot kick duties, but he eventually let Balotelli take the important penalty after both were seen arguing on the pitch.
"I think Jordan has handled the situation very well. He can see that Mario really wanted to score," Gerrard added.
"Jordan walked away at the right moment and handled his post match interview very well.
"Jordan is the captain and Mario showed Jordan a bit of disrespect there, but he's scored a very important goal.
"I think six or seven players would have wanted to take that penalty so if they all say they are taking it, what happens then? Rules are in place for a reason."
Read: Balotelli Scores First EPL Goal With 48th Shot
Balotelli has now scored two goals in his last two games for the Reds.
Do you think Mario Balotelli was right to overrule club rules and take the penalty? Have your say in the comments section below.
