The Italian striker, 28, notched his third strike since arriving from Ligue 1 rivals Nice in January as he spectacularly volleyed home a corner.

He then ran behind the goal to grab a phone off a photographer before taking a selfie with his teammates.

Balotelli’s video even made it onto his Instagram story while the game was still being played.

“Balotelli takes the pressure, he takes the limelight. He reminds me of (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic and he scored an Ibrahimovic goal,” said Saint-Etienne coach Jean-Louis Gasset.

Here’s how the goal looked on live TV.

Here’s how it looked on his Instagram page.

“He has brought back the public, the confidence, and many of his teammates will raise their level of play.”

He was not the first player to produce a selfie-based celebration, after Roma great Francesco Totti took a picture of himself after scoring against Lazio in the capital-city derby in 2015.

Balotelli is certainly the first player to have posted a selfie to social media in the middle of a match while still on the pitch.

His celebrations overshadowed what really was an incredible goal.

The mercurial striker held off Loic Perrin and twisted his body to volley the ball home from a corner in the 12th minute.

The former Manchester City and Liverpool star’s strike came in the 12th minute and ex-Newcastle ace Florian Thauvin added a second soon later.

Outspoken Balotteli missed out on a move away from Nice last summer and fell out with boss Patrick Vieira as his form slumped.

But after securing his exit on January 25, he has fired four goals in six games.

Fallen giants Marseille are sixth in the table, two points ahead of today’s opponents at the start of play.

— with AFP