Pep Hails Mahrez Attitude After Crucial Strike

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has praised the attitude of Riyad Mahrez and says more opportunities will come his way.

Winger Mahrez ended a three-month Premier League goal drought at Bournemouth by stepping off the bench to fire the champions back to the top of the table with a 1-0 win.

The Algeria international has made only 11 top-flight starts since his £60million switch to the Etihad Stadium last summer and been restricted to just 124 minutes of league action in 2019.

He was unexpectedly thrust into Saturday’s game during first-half stoppage due to an injury to Kevin De Bruyne and capitalised by securing a 1-0 success with a low finish in the 55th minute. “It’s so important for him. Firstly, for the team,” said Guardiola.

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“He has to be ready and positive – ‘OK, my time is going to come, the time is going to come’ – because there are a lot of games. “I don’t have any doubts about his quality and always his mentality is aggressive. “But he has to understand where he is and where he is is at a team who scored 100 points (last season) and in every single game fight and run and play.

“And the people in front are Leroy (Sane) – last season one of the most important players that we had – Bernardo (Silva), the best player in the league, and Raheem (Sterling).”