Man City striker Mahrez pays tribute to Leicester’s late owner

LONDON — Riyad Mahrez paid tribute to the Leicester owner killed in a helicopter crash after scoring Manchester City’s goal in a 1-0 win over Tottenham in the English Premier League on Monday.

The winger celebrated his sixth-minute strike at Wembley Stadium by pointing both of his arms skyward in memory of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died with four other people when his helicopter crashed outside Leicester’s stadium after a match on Saturday. Mahrez played for Leicester from 2014 until moving to City this summer, and was a star of its 2016 Premier League-winning team bankrolled by Vichai.

“The boss was very special to me,” Mahrez said. “He was such a good person. I was very, very sad — that’s why when I scored, I put my hands up for him.

“It was heartbreaking and shocking to have this news, and of course with the other people who died with him. It’s a difficult situation.”

Mahrez said it had been “difficult to sleep” since the tragedy that has sparked an outpouring of grief in English soccer and beyond, but added that he always wanted to play in Monday’s match.

“I know he would have wanted me to play,” Mahrez said of Vichai. “He was very passionate about football.”

City returned to the top of the standings, on goal difference from Liverpool, after an eighth win in 10 games, and remained unbeaten in its title defence.

Not only did the champions have to overcome a Tottenham side that had made its best ninegame start to a Premier League, they did so on a field damaged and discoloured by an NFL game on Sunday.

Coming a day after a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Wembley field had a faded NFL crest in the centre circle, yardage markings all over, and an uneven surface. Both flanks were heavily discoloured.

That hardly made for great PR for the most marketed soccer league in the world, and it probably didn’t help the quality on show between two of the Premier League’s top clubs, who both play an attractive passing game.

City manager Pep Guardiola said the state of the pitch made the game “so complicated.”

“It’s a question for the Premier League and for Tottenham,” Guardiola said, when asked if the standard of the playing surface was “unacceptable.”