Balotelli has it all — Mancini

Man City 2, Everton 0
Roberto Mancini believes Mario Balotelli has all the attributes required to become one of the world's top strikers – if he can just keep his mind focused on the job.

The Manchester City forward has only been in England for just over a year, yet he has already managed to get himself involved in more scrapes than most players endure in an entire career.

However, since infuriating his manager with his showboating antics during a pre–season game with Los Angeles Galaxy, the 21–year–old has avoided negative headlines.

He even managed a smile as he celebrated opening the scoring in a hard–fought 2–0 win against Everton at the Etihad Stadium.

And, though he misses tomorrow’s trip to Bayern Munich, a legacy of the four–match ban he received for his dismissal in a Europa League tie with Dynamo Kiev in March, when Mancini branded the forward "stupid", it seems Balotelli is now starting to concentrate on the fundamentals of his career.

"With Mario it is never easy," laughed Mancini. "But we keep in our mind that Mario is young, and young guys can have different behaviour.”

Balotelli's pivotal contribution to a victory that was sealed by fellow substitute James Milner in the final minute justified Mancini's decision to introduce the Italian ahead of Carlos Tevez, who remained on the substitutes’ bench throughout.

It was also testament to the less obvious battling qualities of a City team who were forced to overcome some stoic Everton defending, including David Moyes' decision to deploy Jack Rodwell in a man–to–man marking role on David Silva.