Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez has been one of the Premier League ’s most unsung heroes this season in their race to defend their top-flight crown.
Pep Guardiola’s side are currently a point ahead of Liverpool with both sides having six games remaining of the 2021/22 season. Five-time title winners City moved back to the top of the Premier League table on Wednesday night, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium following a flurry of second half goals.
While City were held at half-time by a Brighton side who have recently won away at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, Mahrez got the opening goal in the 3-0 victory, with Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva completing the scoring later in the second half.
Mahrez has only started 13 Premier League games for the Sky Blues this season, with his 11 other top-flight outings coming from the bench. Despite that low number of starts, Mahrez’s 11th Premier League goal of the season moved him to the club’s joint-top scorer in the division this term alongside Kevin De Bruyne.
With 11 goals in 1,314 minutes in the Premier League this season, Mahrez has the second best goals per minute ratio of any player in the league (minimum ten goals scored). Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah (114.2) is the only player with a better minutes per goal ratio than Mahrez this term (119.5).
Speaking after the win over Brighton on Wednesday, Mahrez admitted that City’s tight title race with Liverpool means that they cannot afford to slip up, leading to that City second half onslaught.
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"It was a tough game that we controlled,” Mahrez said after the game. “We had to score the first goal to open the game. We were patient and then we were comfortable once we scored. We had to score in any way we possibly could - and I did that."
For Mahrez, his stunning season has not just been via his goals. As well as scoring 11 times in the Premier League, he has also added five assists in the league, taking him to a total of direct goal contributions to 16.
Only seven players have added more direct goal contributions in the Premier League than Mahrez this season, all of which have played a considerably higher number of minutes than the Algerian.
Mahrez (three) ranked second for most tackles completed by Guardiola’s in City’s win over the Seagulls, with only Joao Cancelo (five) making more. The winger also provided the assist for the second goal of the game scored by Foden.
The 31-year-old’s latest goal was his 77 th in the Premier League, with 38 coming for City and the other 39 being notched while playing for former club Leicester City.
Of active players in the Premier League, only Cristano Ronaldo (99), Heung-Min Son (87), Christian Benteke (86) and Theo Walcott (78) are closer to reaching the 100-goal mark.
