Mario Balotelli finished the Turkish Super Lig season in stunning fashion with the first five-goal haul in Adana Demirspor s top-flight history.
Ninth in the table heading into Sunday, Balotelli s ADS had little to play for against already-relegated Goztepe but put on a show.
Vincenzo Montella s side ran out 7-0 winners, with Balotelli hitting five to finish the season on 18 league goals – behind only Kasimpasa s Umut Bozok (20).
The Italy international s outstanding display represented a club first, while Alex in May 2011 had been the last Super Lig player to net five in a match, for Fenerbahce against Ankaragucu.
5 Mario Balotelli is the first player since Alex de Souza (2011) to score five goals in a single Süper Lig game, becoming the first player to reach this mark in the top-flight history. Rabona.
— OptaCan (@OptaCan)
This was Balotelli s first hat-trick since scoring three for Manchester City against Aston Villa in December 2010, making him the first foreign player to hit a treble for ADS.
As if these achievements were not enough, Balotelli s fifth goal was an outrageous effort perhaps set to be considered for the FIFA Puskas Award.
Seven step-overs tied Atakan Cankaya – who had earlier scored an own goal – in knots, finally working space seemingly for a left-footed shot before the striker executed a sublime right-footed rabona finish across the goalkeeper and into the bottom-right corner.
Five goals for me today, Balotelli posted on Instagram. There was no better way to finish the championship! Thank you to everyone.
