Pep Guardiola will be delighted to see Manchester City bounce back from their Liverpool defeat with a 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, but the Sky Blues manager might not be happy with the performance of Riyad Mahrez.
The 31-year-old picked up as many yellow cards as chances created at the Etihad Stadium and didn’t see a lot of the ball before being hooked in the second half, so he didn’t exactly vindicate Guardiola’s selection decision.
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Mahrez was an unused substitute against Liverpool but returned to the starting lineup over the weekend. Jack Grealish was on the opposite flank while Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer warmed the bench.
Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News gave the 31-year-old a player rating of 5/10 and said he ‘wilted’. Grey Whitebloom of 90min gave Mahrez a player rating of 5-0 and said he was a ‘soloist’ in City’s cohesive unit.
Arnav Kholkar of Sportskeeda gave Mahrez a player rating of 6/10.
Against Brighton, Mahrez played for 61 minutes, had 24 touches, completed 73.3% of his 15 passes, created one chance, had two shots with 50% hitting the target, had one successful dribble and whipped in two crosses with 50% finding a teammate.
In other news, stats show which Man City midfielder impressed v Brighton
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