MANCHESTER: It took eight games for Riyad Mahrez to show why Manchester City paid a club record £60 million ($76.6 million) for his services.
All eyes were on how Pep Guardiola’s only summer signing would add an extra edge to a side that broke records on the way to claiming the Premier League title last season.
The Algerian winger came off the bench just past the hour mark against Cardiff two months ago and slid home his first City goal from close range before curling in a second with a fine left-foot finish.
The brace provided lift-off for the 27-year-old and his confident displays since have quickly dispelled any doubts that he would struggle to adapt to a system under Guardiola that demands commitment as well as class.
For Mahrez, he has been working to fulfil this footballing dream ever since he was a youngster practicing his skills on the streets of Paris suburb Sarcelles, encouraged by his late father Ahmed.
“I’m proud,” he says of an inspiring journey that began professionally in the French Second Division with Quimper in 2009, then at Le Havre a year later, before joining Leicester City for just £400,000 in 2014.
“It’s not easy to arrive here (at City), to come to a club like this. You need to work very hard to get here and when you do it’s not the final thing.
“You still need to work even more, to perform, to be humble, and to try to go higher. Of course, I want to do even better.
“I didn’t feel any pressure when I came because of the price, I don’t think about this stuff.
“I’m feeling good now at City, playing good at the moment and we are winning games. But it’s not finished yet and we need to keep going. The season is very long and we all have to keep going like this.”
While Mahrez has already won the league title with Leicester during a fairytale 2015-16 season that also saw him crowned the PFA Player of the Year, he remains ambitious and convinced he can still improve.
A yardstick has perhaps been set by Liverpool’s Egyptian frontman Mohamed Salah, who took his game to another level with 44 goals last season, winning the PFA and Football Writers’ Player of the Year awards and named third in the 2018 Best FIFA Men’s Player.
“Salah had a very good season. And we have a good team, we can score a lot of goals and I hope to do more, like he has done,” Mahrez told Arab News exclusively.
“But the most important thing is that we keep on winning as a team, and I’m going to try to help the team to do this, to score goals, make assists.”
The performances of Mahrez, who has claimed four more goals since the Cardiff match, and eight-goal Salah on Merseyside could well be integral to how their clubs eventually fare in this campaign.
Both teams are unbeaten in the league after 12 games with City two points clear of Liverpool, a lead confirmed by the impressive 3-1 win over neighbors United in the recent Manchester derby.
But Mahrez knows the mesmerising manner in which they have roared to the top will mean nothing if they are not there next May.
“The derby was special, a good atmosphere, a good win, I’m very happy,” he said after his first experience of the rivalry.
“But it’s not that because we beat United we are going to win the league. You can’t think like that, there’s still a long way to go and we have to keep focus.
“We have a good team, we are playing well. We just need to keep working hard for each other and we know we are going to be there at the end of the season. That’s the target.
“I won the title with Leicester, but I came here to win more trophies.
“I’m not going to say I’m going to win this or that, but of course this is a club that wants to win trophies. Win the Premier League, I don’t know. Win the Champions League, I don’t know.
“But we are going to make everything we can to try to do that. That’s the challenge for us.”
Riyad Mahrez comes of age at Manchester City in search for glory
Riyad Mahrez comes of age at Manchester City in search for glory
- Riyad Mahrez signed for City in a $76.6 million move
- All eyes were on how Pep Guardiola’s only summer signing would add an extra edge to a record-breaking side
Premier League rings in New Year with goal drought as Man City lose ground in title race
- Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal’s advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight
- Liverpool’s attack was also found wanting as they drew 0-0 at home to Leeds United while there were no goals at Brentford as they ground out a draw with Tottenham Hotspur
SUNDERLAND, England: The Premier League’s festive feast turned stale on Thursday as the New Year’s Day program served up three 0-0 draws, most significantly Manchester City’s stalemate at Sunderland which left them four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal’s advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight.
Liverpool’s attack was also found wanting as they drew 0-0 at home to Leeds United while there were no goals at Brentford as they ground out a draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
The only goals of the day came at Selhurst Park where Fulham’s Tom Cairney scored a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw.
Sunderland have proved stubborn opposition on their return to the Premier League and have now drawn with City, Arsenal and third-placed Aston Villa at their Stadium of Light.
They are only the second promoted team to remain unbeaten in their first 10 home games in a Premier League campaign, after Ipswich Town in 1992-93, and were worth their point.
City did everything in their power to make the breakthrough but home goalkeeper Robin Roefs pulled off a series of saves while the closest the visitors came to scoring was Josko Gvardiol’s header which shaved the post in the second half.
“They are so physical. They’re so strong, so it’s not a surprise at that. We take the point,” City boss Pep Guardiola said. “Really pleased with the performances, especially in the second half. There’s still a long way (to go).”
One boost for City was the sight of Rodri back in action as a substitute for the injured Niko Gonzalez having recovered from a hamstring injury that had restricted him to a handful of minutes in the last three months.
Arsenal’s 4-1 thrashing of Villa on Tuesday put them on 45 points at the halfway stage of the season while Pep Guardiola’s City have 41 after just their second league draw of the season.
Next up for Arsenal is a trip to struggling Bournemouth on Saturday while City are at home a day later against Chelsea who parted ways with coach Enzo Maresca on Thursday.
Reigning champions Liverpool are 12 points behind Arsenal in fourth place as they produced a lacklustre display.
Their best chance fell to Hugo Ekitike but his miss rather summed up Liverpool’s day, somehow heading an inviting cross by Jeremie Frimpong away from goal when he seemed set to score.
It could have been worse for Arne Slot’s side too with Dominic Calvert-Lewin having an 81st-minute goal disallowed for offside after latching on to a pass by Noah Okafor.
“You would like to start off (2026) with a win,” Slot said. “But it was difficult. I don’t think we were able to play many times through their low block.
“Sometimes we didn’t have enough bodies in front of the goal and in other moments where we did create or we were close to a goal, we were a bit unfortunate.”
For Leeds it was another important point in their bid to stay clear of the relegation zone. They are in 16th place with 21 points, seven ahead of third-from-bottom West Ham United.
“It doesn’t come along that often that you get a clean sheet and a point at Anfield,” Leeds boss Daniel Farke said.
“We had to defend and suffer but we are newly promoted and came to the defending champions.”
Spurs manager Thomas Frank went back to his old club Brentford but it was a forgettable affair as Tottenham’s 137-game run in the Premier League without a goalless draw ended.
Their last one was also against Brentford in May 2022.
The draw left Tottenham in 12th place with 26 points while Brentford, who had the better chances, are ninth with 27.
Palace are now winless in six matches in all competitions as they were denied victory by a superb curling shot by Cairney.
Jean-Philippe Mateta had headed Palace into the lead but the hosts faded and Fulham would have snatched all three points had Dean Henderson not made a great save to deny Timothy Castagne and had Joachim Andersen not blazed a shot over.
“When the legs and the mind are not that fresh it’s a little bit difficult. It was a good point today,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner said. Palace are 10th with Fulham 11th, both on 27 points.
