• Premier League

Balotelli in hot water with City again

Mario Balotelli sparked controversy as he was substituted after only 31 minutes following his attempted backheel when clean through on goal in Manchester City's narrow pre-season win over the LA Galaxy.

Balotelli had already put City ahead from the penalty spot after Micah Richards had been fouled. He was then sent clear of the home side's defence on the half hour but instead of attempting to score normally, Balotelli tried a complicated pivot, followed by a backheel which rolled wide.

Manager Roberto Mancini was clearly furious and immediately took Balotelli off. "I hope this is a lesson for him," Mancini told various newspapers after the match in which City won 7-6 on penalties after it ended 1-1 in normal time. "In football you always need to be professional, always serious and in this moment he wasn't professional. If you are serious, you can play 90 minutes. If not, you can come and sit by me on the bench."

The striker responded with a few choice words to the City chief as he made his way to the bench, indicating that he thought he was offside. Mancini replied, presumably pointing out how disrespectful the move had been. Balotelli angrily took his place on the bench before throwing his water-bottle to the ground in disgust.

He did not return to the bench for the second half, further fuelling an already tempestuous relationship with Mancini. "He needs to understand his behaviour has to be good in every game - not just in a final or a semi-final but every game," Mancini added. "He knows he made a mistake. Football should always be serious and if you have a chance to score, you should score."

Balotelli's actions add to growing crime sheet since he joined City just 12 months ago, although Mancini was keen to draw a line under the incident. "Mario is young, I want to help him and that is the end of it,'' he added. "To take him off after 30 minutes is enough punishment. It won't have been easy for him but it has to be a lesson.''

Asked what Balotelli had said to him, he replied: "It was in Italian. In English I would find it difficult to give you the translation. But Mario is streetwise, he knows he was not offside."

Balotelli was sent-off at West Brom in November, then against Dynamo Kiev in a last 16 Europa League tie which Mancini branded "stupid". On more than one occasion the City chief accused Balotelli of not listening to him and the 20-year-old raised further eyebrows when he accepted the Golden Boy award and declared of the previous winners, the only one who was a "little bit" better than him was Lionel Messi.

He did not turn up for an end-of-season trophy parade - even though he was named man-of-the-match as City defeated Stoke in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Already this season he was pictured showing off a T-shirt of questionable taste, which was condemned by the Damilola Taylor Trust.

The controversy surrounding Ballotelli's substitution reduced David Beckham's 45-minute appearance to a sideshow as Mike Magee bagged a second-half leveller for the hosts before Joe Hart ended a marathon penalty shoot-out to secure a 7-6 spot-kick triumph for City.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.