Guardiola aims a dig at Mahrez despite his big performance

Manchester City had a narrow escape. After being beaten by Manchester United in the derby on Saturday (1-2), City were heading straight for a second consecutive Premier League defeat against Tottenham on Thursday night. The Skyblues were in fact 2-0 down at home at half-time.

After the break, however, Riyad Mahrez took charge. He started the move for Julian Alvarez's goal to pull one back and provided the assist for Halaand's equaliser (2-2). The Manchester City number 26 then scored the two goals that won the game for his side (4-2). His manager Pep Guardiola was delighted with the comeback but could not resist a dig at his Algerian winger, who has had a somewhat difficult start to the season. "Riyad Mahrez is an exceptional player. Before the World Cup, he was on holiday, but today, he realised it," the Spanish coach said with subtle bite.

It is hard to argue with the Manchester City boss. Before the break for the World Cup, the 2019 African champion had scored just 4 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions. Since the restart, Mahrez has scored 6 goals and provided 2 assists in only 8 games. The difference is striking. The Fennecs captain also enjoyed this return to form on his Twitter account. "Fight till the end," he wrote.

FIGHT TILL THE END 💙👆🏼 pic.twitter.com/6KR8PyAtHU

— Riyad Mahrez (@Mahrez22) January 19, 2023