Mario Balotelli penalty: Was the Italian right or wrong to take the spot kick from skipper Jordan Henderson?

Heated: Mario Balotelli argues with Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson before taking the decisive penalty

Liverpool snuck past a resilient Besiktas side thanks to a late penalty at Anfield.

But while the Kop celebrated Jordon Ibe's tumble, a small kerfuffle broke out among a cluster of red shirts.

The result was Mario Balotelli taking a penalty, scoring - as he does - and handing his side a vital 1-0 lead to take to Istanbul.

But there is far more to it than that, evidenced by a seething Steven Gerrard's reaction in the ITV studio.

So, we're here to break it down for you and help decide if Mario was right or wrong to take the penalty off Jordan Henderson:

The situation:

What do we know? Well Steven Gerrard revealed that pre-match it was Jordan Henderson's name on the whiteboard to take penalties in the absence of Stevie himself, who is usually first-choice taker.

Mario Balotelli, one of the world's finest penalty takers, came off the bench and when the penalty was won he entered into fraught discussions with Henderson and Daniel Sturridge over who should take the spot kick.

Now, Daniel Sturridge had an absolute stinker and really had no claim to take the pen. Mario? Well that's for you to decide.

People seem to be very split, as you'll see...

Mario was WRONG

Reds skipper Steven Gerrard was up in the ITV studios after missing this one with an injury, and straight after the game he was in no doubt as to who had fouled up the penalty call.

" Jordan should have taken the penalty ," Gerrard said.

"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."

Other former players weighed in on the same side:

If I'm the striker I want to take the penalty but if the captain is the penalty taker you can't argue no matter how confident you are
— Clinton Morrison (@morrisonclinton) February 19, 2015

While some fans claimed that Balotelli was defying the orders of his manager by overruling him on the field.

Mario was RIGHT

Curiously, Jordan Henderson kind of falls into this camp. Here's what he told the ITV cameras post-match:

"It was a big goal," he said.

"I wanted the penalty, Mario felt confident and he has taken big penalties before. Everyone wants to take them. I felt confident in Mario, he has taken big penalties before and he got the nod."

Net gain: Mario pops the penalty home

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher agrees that Mario was the best man for the job:

Pressure pen late in a big European game you want your best man on it. Balotelli was that man!
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) February 19, 2015

Also just heard it was Henderson supposed to be on them not Sturridge, more reason for Mario to take it!!!
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) February 19, 2015

And his former Reds teammate Didi Hamann chimed in with agreement:

Balotelli had to take that penalty, he's the best at it. No point for anybody else to get involved.
— Didi Hamann (@DietmarHamann) February 19, 2015

Presumably Steven Gerrard would have let Jordan take the spot kick had he come on as a substitute? Maybe don't answer that.

Source: Mirror.co.uk