Remember Mario Balotelli’s “Let me at him, let me at him”, moment on Sunday?
Well one of the fan’s who stepped in to stop a potential sideline schmozzle between the Italian and Chris Smalling says he could see the Liverpool striker was ready to react, so he held him back to avoid another potential red card.
Shaun Leatherbarrow (what a name, by the way), a Liverpool fan and now potential nominee for a Nobel peace Prize, ensured that Mario Balotelli would not be walking alone after the striker looked ready to retaliate after falling into the advertising boards following a collision with the United defender.
Leatherbarrow (the fan in the sunglasses) told the Liverpool Echo that helping him prevent the Italian from going full Raging Bull on Smalling was an off-duty policeman.
“I was worried he’d get sent off,” he said.
“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’.
Surprisingly, the fan nearby wearing a Superman t-shirt was too busy looking for the nearest phone box to lend a hand.
Much like another Liverpool hero (or villain, after Sunday) Steven Gerrard, Leatherbarrow will be leaving his regular seat at Anfield at the end of the season, when he’ll be moving to Australia with his wife and kids.
