Supporter who held back Mario Balotelli: 'I was worried he'd get sent off'

Liverpool supporter Shaun Leatherbarrow is making headlines after he proved that you really never do walk alone at Anfield.

Leatherbarrow was one of two supporters who could be seen grabbing Mario Balotelli when the Italian forward got involved in a touchline tussle with Chris Smalling during Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United. The quick thinking likely prevented a classic Balotelli-esque incident from unfolding.

It was a moment of unity between player and supporter that isn't normally seen in the footballing world, and in conversation with Andy Kelly of the Liverpool Echo, Leatherbarrow detailed what was going through his mind at the time.

"I was worried he'd get sent off," Leatherbarrow, the man wearing sunglasses in the photo above, said.

He continued: "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 5-foot-8 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."