Mario Balotelli scores as Demirspor complete 3-goal comeback against Besiktas; ‘no brain’ celebration explained

Adana Demirspor completed a remarkable comeback against Besiktas in the Turkish league, coming up from 3-0 down to rescue a point in the second half. 

Eight minutes after Besiktas scored their third goal of the game, Matias Vargas scored the first goal for the visitors. Mario Balotelli then scored from a deflected ball with 11 minutes to the end of the game, and assisted the last goal scored by Britt Assombalonga, setting him up perfectly for a tap-in at the dying stage of the game to complete the miraculous second half performance and earn a point against strong opponents. 

After scoring his goal against Besiktas, Balotelli had an interesting celebration, referring to events from 8 years ago. The Italian was playing for Manchester City at the time, and was in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper against LA Galaxy in a preseason friendly. He decided to backheel the ball, and it didn’t even test the keeper. He was substituted immediately after the occurrence of the miss, despite it being the first half. 

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After the game, Sergen Yalcin, working as a pundit at the time, commented that Balotelli had ‘no brain.’ Yalcin now manages Besiktas, and Balotelli simply went near the opposition bench and pointed to his brain to mock the manager for his comments from all those years ago. 

Balotelli signed for Turkish mid-table club Adana Demirspor this summer after playing for Brescia and Monza in Serie A. He has often made the headlines for the wrong reasons throughout his career, and at 31, is still helping his current club out when the pressure is high. 

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