Steven Gerrard has hit out at "disrespectful " Liverpool teammate Mario Balotelli for stripping Jordan Henderson of penalty duty in tonight's 1-0 win over Besiktas at Anfield.
The Italy international wrestled the ball from Henderson before stroking home an 85th-minute winner as the Reds earned a first-leg lead in their last-32 Europa League clash.
However, captain Gerrard, who is out with a hamstring injury, told ITV Sport that he was proud of the way in which stand-in skipper Henderson handled the situation.
"Jordan should have taken the penalty. Rules are rules. It should have been Henderson. Mario has been a bit mischievous. Credit to Mario, he's scored, but it's not nice to see when footballers are arguing.
"I think Jordan has handled the situation very well. He can see that Mario really wanted to score. Jordan walked away at the right moment and handled his post match interview very well.
"Jordan is the captain and Mario showed Jordan a bit of disrespect there, but he's scored a very important goal. I think six or seven players would have wanted to take that penalty so if they all say they are taking it, what happens then?! Rules are in place for a reason."
The tie resumes in Istanbul next Thursday.
Shane Callaghan
