Liverpool’s five mistakes during penalty fight – and what should have happened instead

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Here’s what should have happened last night.. Step by step…

1) Mario Balotelli should have been ‘on penalties’ in the first place…

It should be pretty simple, right? When Steven Gerrard isn’t on the pitch – Mario Balotelli takes penalties… (providing he’s on the pitch himself, of course.) He’s bagged 27 from 29 career spot-kicks. It should have been a complete no-brainer. But Jordan Henderson’s name was on the dressing room board, which – considering he’s only ever taken one (which he missed), seems stupid.

2) But this didn’t happen… So Jordan Henderson should have given him the ball without making a fuss…

We’re at 0-0. We have a penalty in the final ten minutes of the game. The best penalty taker on the pitch (arguably the the best in the business full-stop) should of course be taking it. Captain Henderson should recognise this, pass Balotelli the ball – and let the Italian do the rest. No drama. No Problem. He shouldn’t have started shaking his head when he’d already given Balotelli the ball.

3) But this didn’t happen… So Daniel Sturridge shouldn’t have made it any of his business either, and should have let Balotelli take the penalty without throwing a paddy…

At the end of the day, whether he was happy about it or not, Henderson passed Balotelli the ball. And Henderson was the captain. What’s it got to do with Daniel Sturridge? Sturridge’s actions would have put off most penalty takers, and his stroppy reaction highlighted the event to the media. If he wanted to kick off, he should have done it in the dressing room. Not before his teammate was about to take a must-score spot-kick.

4) But this didn’t happen… So the team should’ve realised Balotelli was right to take the post-kick (he scored, didn’t he?!) and celebrated with him, instead of glumly walking back to the halfway line…

We bagged a crucial goal, which makes us favourites to qualify for the Last 16, providing we don’t slip up next week. But only Emre Can went to properly celebrate with Mario Balotelli, and Sturridge’s reaction in particular was gloomy. By the time the ball hit the back of the net, bygones should have been bygones.

5) But this didn’t happen… So captain Steven Gerrard should have completely played down and nullified the issue in the ITV studio…

Gerrard took to Instagram to do what he should have done after the match, when he was (quite annoyingly for us), sat in the ITV studio. However, by then, the damager had already been done. Gerrard lambasted Balotelli live on television, which was wrong, by ours, or anyone’s standards.

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