- The Italian striker pretended to smoke after scoring against Fenerbahçe
- Mario Balotelli picked up a lighter that had been thrown onto the field
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Mario Balotelli was back to his comedic best during Adana Demirspor’s defeat against Fenerbahce on Wednesday after pretending to smoke when a lighter was thrown at him on the pitch.
The Italian has made a name for himself as one of the biggest characters in modern football with his various antics over the years and seems to be loving life playing in the Turkish top flight.
Balotelli’s career, which once saw him win the Premier League title at Manchester City and then join Liverpool, has been largely derailed in recent years but he is now rediscovering his former form.
Demirspor fans have witnessed his skills first-hand, with the 33-year-old scoring seven goals in 11 Super Lig games this season, the last of which came against Fenerbahce earlier in the week.
After scoring in the 25th minute, Balotelli celebrated by pretending to smoke after picking up a lighter thrown at him by frustrated fans in the crowd.
Mario Balotelli pretended to smoke after a lighter was thrown onto the pitch in Adana Demirspor’s recent defeat to Fenerbahce.
Balotelli has shown flashes of his previous best form while playing in Türkiye this season.
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A smiling Balotelli takes the lighter and smokes an imaginary cigarette before throwing the combustible object back to the side of the field.
It was another iconic celebration in a growing catalog that also includes Balotelli’s famous moment when he revealed a “why always me?” T-shirt after scoring against Man United in the Manchester derby.
Unfortunately, their celebration on this occasion was short-lived as the hosts hit back through Balotelli’s former Manchester City teammate Edin Dzeko before scoring twice more in a 4-2 win.
It was another iconic celebration from the Italian who previously produced this famous moment while at Man City.
Despite pretending to smoke after scoring, Balotelli was previously seen with a real cigarette in his mouth during a previous visit to Florida.
Then, aged 23 and playing for AC Milan, he was photographed lighting up on a hotel balcony while walking around topless.
It seems Balotelli previously struggled to kick the habit after Milan also fined him for trying to smoke on a train and was once told to give up by former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini.
He appears to have now quit smoking and returned to shooting on goal after recovering from knee surgery earlier in the season.