Football: Mahrez needs huge goal to make up for poor City start

Riyad Mahrez poked in a scruffy goal against Bournemouth. Photo / Getty Images

A club-record signing for $117 million, Riyad Mahrez has struggled to make a significant impact in his first season at Manchester City.

Scoring a huge goal in the Premier League title race might just turn things round for the Algeria winger.

Mahrez came off the bench and poked in a scruffy goal as City beat Bournemouth 1-0 to climb to the top of the standings yesterday.

The defending champions are two points clear of Liverpool, whose game in hand was at cross-town rival Everton overnight.

Mahrez's biggest previous intervention in this season's title race came at Anfield in October, when he missed a late penalty in a 0-0 draw with Liverpool. He has scored only three league goals since then — and none since December 4 — and has dropped to being the fourth-choice winger in recent weeks under Pep Guardiola, behind Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane.

Spending most weekends on the bench is quite the comedown for a player voted Footballer of the Year in England in 2016 after being a key player in Leicester's improbable Premier League title triumph.

And there was audible frustration among City fans at Mahrez's display in his last appearance, the 1-0 win over West Ham on Thursday when he got a rare start as Guardiola rotated his squad a few days after the gruelling penalty-shootout victory over Chelsea in the League Cup final.

Mahrez was on the field at Bournemouth only because of an injury to Kevin De Bruyne, who limped off just before halftime with hamstring woes.

With the games piling up as City bid for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies, it's unlikely to be the last injury to hit Guardiola.

"We've played 25 games in, I think, 93 days," Guardiola said. "It means every three days and a little bit more, we play one game. So it's a physiological issue.

"We demand to play every three days when the body is not already recovered. And, of course, sometimes the muscles say, 'Hello, it's enough'."

Third-place Tottenham's unlikely ambition to challenge City and Liverpool for the title were snuffed out with losses at Burnley and Chelsea in the past week. With a 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday, Spurs are now far from assured of even finishing in the top four.

That's because Manchester United are only three points back in fourth after their 10th win in 12 league matches under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 3-2 against Southampton.

When Solskjaer replaced the fired Jose Mourinho in December, Man United were in sixth spot, 11 points off the Champions League qualification positions.

Three days after scoring twice in a 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace, Romelu Lukaku again proved the difference for United with another double — the second goal being the winner in the 88th minute at the famous Stretford End of the ground.

Wolverhampton Wanderers consolidated seventh place with a 2-0 win over Cardiff. West Ham beat Newcastle 2-0, Crystal Palace won 3-1 at Burnley, and last-place Huddersfield slipped closer to the drop by losing 1-0 at Brighton.

- AP