Liverpool fan who held back Mario Balotelli was worried he’d be sent off

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Good on you Shaun!

The Liverpool fan who held back Mario Balotelli during the match against Manchester United has admitted he did so because he was worried the striker would get himself sent off.

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Balotelli looked incensed when he was on the receiving end of a physical challenge from Chris Smalling in the second-half but having already been booked for a trip on Phil Jones any retaliation would surely have seen him given his marching orders.

But, luckily, the Italian was restrained by several supporters in the Centenary Stand – who he has since thanked – and Shaun Leatherbarrow, one of those seeing doing so on TV, revealed to the Liverpool Echo just why they did what they did.

“I was worried he’d get sent off. The way I saw it Smalling sort of shoved Mario off the pitch and Mario grabbed him just to have something to grab on to.

“I could tell from Mario’s body language he was ready to react and I knew he’d already had a yellow card.

“I was saying ‘Calm down, leave it, leave it’ and he was saying ‘OK, OK’.

“I’m only 5ft 8in and he’s a big lad so I was struggling to get my arms around him.

“Peter, the lad who sits next to me at the ground, helped me and he’s a police officer who sometimes works at Anfield on match days.

“Afterwards all the lads were laughing and patting me on the back as well as having a go at Smalling.”

Following the game Mario expressed his disappointment at the overall result but thanked the supporters who held him back from letting his temper get the better of him.

The loss against United was our first since mid-December but does leave us four adrift in the race for top four and we’ll have to put a performance in against Arsenal after the international break to get right back into the mix.

Well done Shaun!

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