RIYAD’S FEELING TASTIC
<M<IP B@:B# <M<IP >F8C# <M<IP >8D<# <M<IP Mahrez dedicates late stunner to Foxes faithful who backed him
RIYAD MAHREZ revealed the secret drive behind his stunning 97thminute equaliser.
Magic Mahrez scored with the last kick of the game and dedicated his brilliant strike to the fans who have stuck by him.
The Algeria star acknowledged things could have been difficult after he went AWOL following the collapse of his £60m move to Manchester City.
He slapped in a transfer request and could quite easily have burned his bridges at the club where he made his name.
But the fans stuck with him and Mahrez, speaking for the first time since his transfer window fiasco, was quick to dedicate his stunner to the Foxes’ faithful.
Mahrez said: “I’m very happy. It’s for moments like that you play football.
“The fans have been fantastic – I thank them all. It was a difficult situation. Like I said, while I am here, I will give everything for the club – that’s how I am.”
And Mahrez was happy to reveal the real reason he risked ridicule by chancing his arm with a 30-yarder from the free-kick.
He added: “There was no time left. I thought, ‘Phew!’ I was like should I cross it? But I thought I’d have a go.
“It was brave but sometimes you have to be. I saw Harry Maguire at the far post and thought, ‘Nah, I’ll shoot!’”
Mahrez sent in a real curler which bypassed the Bournemouth wall and squeezed inside Asmir Begovic’s right-hand post.
Jamie Vardy celebrated by roaring in the stricken keeper’s ear – clearly payback for an earlier row between the two.
Vardy refused to throw any more light on the set-to, saying he’d still got the ‘red mist’ and would keep his mouth shut. Steve Cook, who gave away the needless free-kick, was far from happy, particularly as the fourth official had initially indicated four minutes stoppage time. Cook said: “It is a sickening blow, especially in the 97th minute. I don’t know where they got seven minutes from. It is a soft goal to concede. “It was a good free-kick but very soft and we weren’t set up right and he has punished us.
Tough
“It was a foul, of course, but to come here and concede in the 97th minute when we have defended so well is tough to take.”
Bournemouth had every right to be gutted but no one could argue Leicester weren’t worth a point.
Josh King’s 35th-minute penalty looked like deciding it despite the Foxes bombarding the visitors’ goal in the second half.
Skipper Wes Morgan said: “We got something for our efforts. The ref said there were 30 seconds left.
“I was expecting Riyad to stand it up at the back post and for me or Harry to get on the end of it but he’s been joking in the dressing room that’s the reason he had a go himself.” LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel 6; Amartey 20, 6), 5 (Chilwell Morgan 7, Maguire 7, (Diabate Fuchs 7 79); James 6, Ndidi 7; MAHREZ 8, Silva 6 (Iheanacho Albrighton 59, 5), 6; Vardy 7. Subs: Gray, Hamer, Dragovic, Iborra. UP NEXT: West Brom League, (a), Premier Saturday. BOURNEMOUTH (3-4-3): Begovic 7; Francis 6, S AKE 7; A Cook 7, Smith 7, L Cook 6, Gosling Daniels 7; King 6 6, (Mousset 90), Wilson 6 (Surman 77), Stanislas Boruc, 6. Subs: Defoe, Fraser, Simpson, UP NEXT: Taylor. Tottenham (h), Premier League, Sunday. Referee: Lee Probert 5. YOUR TURN: Which gave midfielder the Cherries a first-minute lead in their 1-1 draw at Leicester last season?