Balotelli makes Serie A return, gets booked within 5 minutes

Mario Balotelli made his first Serie A appearance in four years when he came on as a late substitute in Genoa’s 1-0 win over Parma on Monday and earned a yellow card within five minutes.

Balotelli came on in the 86th minute and was booked in injury time for a foul.

The former Italy international signed with relegation-threatened Genoa last week, having last played in Italy’s top division with hometown club Brescia in 2019-20.

Parma’s winless streak reached nine games with the loss, even though the host had the best of the first half with Valentin Mihaila and Anas Haj Mohamed coming close to opening the scoring.

But Genoa took control after the break as Morten Thorsby had a goal disallowed after 49 minutes and Andrea Pinamonti hit the post shortly after. Pinamonti scored the winner with 11 minutes remaining when he slotted home the rebound from Jeff Ekhator’s low shot.

It was Genoa’s first win since beating Monza on Aug. 24 and moves it off the bottom of the standings and into 17th place. Parma is 15th.