Wantaway Mahrez proves his point as he inspires Leicester
WHETHER he was playing for his £50million move or for forgiveness from Leicester City’s fans, Riyad Mahrez was in the mood here.
Mahrez, who handed in a transfer request in May and released a statement asking to leave Leicester, created the first goal, then set up the second to finish off Brighton & Hove Albion.
It was his run that led to Shinji Okazaki’s opener after only 52 seconds before his corner allowed Harry Maguire to score with a header. All that was missing was one of his own.
Other clubs’ wantaway players are not performing. Diego Costa is AWOL, 5,000 miles away from Chelsea in Brazil. Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk has not played this season, while Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho is itching to leave for Barcelona.
Yet Mahrez is on the pitch, pulling the strings for Leicester in their first Premier League win of the season. No tantrums, no inconvenient injuries, none of that.
‘He made his statement,’ Craig Shakespeare said. ‘Everyone knows the speculation in terms of the bid that we had (£32million from Roma) but it wasn’t accepted.
‘I’ve said to him, “While you’re here, you need to be professional, you need to be respectful of your team-mates and Leicester City Football Club”.
‘Credit to him, he’s done that. While he remains in that frame of mind, he will always be considered for selection. He wants to play all the time. He’s that kid on the playground.’
It wasn’t all good news here, however, as Jamie Vardy was taken off late on with an ankle injury.
With Manchester United and Chelsea next up, Shakespeare said: ‘He’s got an ankle heavily strapped with an ice pack on it. But knowing Jamie, he’ll be fine.’
This was Brighton’s first top-flight away match since May 1983 and boss Chris Hughton warned his players afterwards: ‘I’m disappointed with the performance but this won’t be the first time this season.
‘It’s about staying in there, it’s about being 1-0 down, perhaps not playing so well, looking for an opportunity, staying in the game and getting back into it.’
They couldn’t here, as Mahrez was a menace to the final whistle.
LEICESTER (4-4-1-1): Schmeichel 6.5; Simpson 6.5, Morgan 7, Maguire 7.5, Fuchs 6.5; Mahrez 8, James 6.5, Ndidi 6.5, Albrighton 6.5; Okazaki 7.5 (Slimani 76); Vardy 7.5 (Gray 90). Subs not used: Hamer, Chilwell, Amartey, King, Ulloa. Booked: Morgan. BRIGHTON (4-4-1-1): Ryan 5; Bruno 6, Dunk 6, Duffy 6, Suttner 5; Murphy 6, Stephens 6, Propper 5.5, March 5.5; Gross 5.5 (Knockaert 62, 6); Murray 5.5 (Hemed 66, 6). Subs not used: Maenpaa, Bong, Hunemeier, Rosenior, Skalaku. Booked: None. Referee: Lee Probert 6.