WATCH: Mario Balotelli Lashes Home Excellent Goal For Nice

Mario Balotelli's French renaissance has continued during Nice's Ligue Un clash with Rennes today, with the Italian striker lashing home a stunning strike to take his tally to five goals in six games, this season.

Balotelli saw a real resurgence in form after arriving in the south of France, last season, hitting 17 goals in 28 appearances during his debut season in Ligue Un. It was a campaign that was prolific enough to see the French club re-sign the former Manchester City man after his initial one-year deal came to an end.

And the Italy international has picked up where he left off by hitting another four goals in five games before today's clash with Rennes.

The 27-year-old looked to have prematurely ended his hopes of realising his potential of becoming one of the world's most feared strikers after a disastrous spell with Liverpool, followed by an equally poor loan spell with AC Milan.

Having seen his time at Manchester City also cut short following a poor run of form and clashes with teammates and manager Roberto Mancini, Balotelli was seen by many to be damaged goods, but with Nice having taken a chance on him, the Italian striker is repaying the French club's faith with some of the finest form of his career.

And today's goal against Rennes was Balotelli at his ruthless best:

Credit: BT Sport

Balotelli's goal would turn out to be the winning effort, earning Nice their third victory of the season. Les Aiglons will be hoping for many more over the course of the season.

Topics: Football, Mario Balotelli

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

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