Liverpool fan who grabbed Mario admits: ''I was worried he'd get sent off''

The Liverpool fan who grabbed Mario Balotelli to stop him getting involved with Man Utd’s Chris Smalling told the Liverpool Echo: “I was worried he’d get sent off.”

Shaun Leatherbarrow sits in row one of the Centenary Stand and was seen by millions of television viewers around the world grabbing the Reds’ Italian striker as he looked set to lose his temper after being pushed towards the hoardings by the United defender.

Balotelli had already been shown a yellow card by referee Martin Atkinson for a challenge on Phil Jones and any further trouble could have seen Liverpool down to nine men in the second half after the dismissal of Steven Gerrard within 43 seconds of his half time arrival.

Shaun 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’."

"I’m only 5ft 8in and he’s a big lad so I was struggling to get my arms around him. Peter, the lad who sits next to me at the ground, helped me and he’s a police officer who sometimes works at Anfield on match days."

"Afterwards all the lads were laughing and patting me on the back as well as having a go at Smalling."

Shaun has followed Liverpool FC around the world, having been to Rome, Istanbul in 2005, Athens in 2007 and even the World Club Championship in Tokyo in 2005.

...The Mirror