 On 21 September, Balotelli, in only his second Ligue 1 appearance, struck another double in the 30th and 68th minutes as Nice thrashed Monaco 4–0 in the Azurean derby at the Allianz Riviera to go to the top of Ligue 1.No other player had scored four goals in their first two Ligue 1 matches in the last 25 years.On 29 September, Balotelli scored his fifth goal in just four competitive matches for Nice when he fired home a right-footed shot from just outside the penalty area in the 43rd minute after an assist from Malang Sarr in a 2016–17 UEFA Europa League Group I match against Krasnodar in an eventual 5–2 away defeat.