daniel chigunwe
LONDON. — Riyad Mahrez reached 100 goal involvements for Manchester City with his brace in their 4-1 thrashing of Manchester United in the English Premiership football on Sunday.
Sunday’s efforts took the 31-year-old’s tally to 60 goals and 41 assists for Pep Guardiola’s side since his permanent signing from Leicester City in July 2018.
Following a first-half double from Kevin De Bruyne, Mahrez scored City’s third goal with a stunning finish to the Belgian star’s corner-kick in the 68th minute.
He grabbed his second of the day on the stroke of full-time, after firing a shot past goalkeeper David De Gea and into the roof of the net.
The goal was initially ruled out for off-side but it was counted after a VAR review shows he was onside.
Since his return from Algeria’s unsuccessful title defence at the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Mahrez has scored eight goals in eight matches for the Citizens.
With 21 goals in all competitions so far, Mahrez is only second behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (27 goals) as the highest-scoring Premier League player this campaign.
The derby win boosted Manchester City’s lead at the top of the English Premier League table with 69 points after 28 matches — six points ahead of Liverpool who have a game in hand.
Mahrez has explained how he managed to beat Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea and score twice at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The Algerian scored two of the four goals for the Citizens, and he has now revealed the trick he used to find his way past the Spanish goalkeeper during the derby.
“The first half was pretty good. (In the) second half, we were more patient and controlled.” Mahrez is quoted by the club’s website as saying. — Goal.com
Online Reporter