Brendan Rodgers has played down the incident which saw Jordan Henderson and Mario Balotelli disagree over who should take an 85th minute penalty during the Reds Europa League clash with Besiktas.
The pair seemed to be involved in an altercation of sorts, which also included Daniel Sturridge.
Steven Gerrard suggested after the game Balotelli had been ‘mischevious’ and ‘disrespectful’ in taking the ball from Liverpool’s designated penalty taker for the incident.
But Rodgers praised the Italian for putting the ball in the back of the net to give the Reds a 1-0 advantage to take to Istanbul next week.
“There’s been more drama made out of it than it was,” declared Rodgers. “When Steven plays, he’s No.1.
“The nominated penalty-taker was Jordan. But if Jordan and Steven and Mario are on the pitch, then normally Steven and Mario are the penalty takers.”
“Jordan showed last night what a team player he was by letting Mario take it. Young Jordan showed his maturity.”
Nonetheless, Rodgers says that he didn’t like the sight of his players surrounding the ball and looked to clearly define the situation.
“I don’t like the etiquette – at this club or any other club,” added Rodgers.
“What you don’t like to see four or five players around the ball looking to take the penalty.”
