Mahrez special was for the fans
RIYAD MAHREZ revealed the drive behind his stunning injury-time equaliser.
The Algerian scored with the last kick of the game and dedicated the goal to the fans who have stuck by him.
He acknowledged things could have been difficult after he went AWOL following the collapse of his move to Manchester City.
He had demanded a transfer and might 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 fiasco, was quick to dedicate his stunner to the Foxes faithful.
“I’m very happy. You play football for moments like that,” he said. “The fans have been fantastic – I thank them all. It was a difficult situation. While I’m here, I’ll give everything.”
Mahrez was happy to reveal the real reason he risked ridicule by chancing his arm with a 30-yard free-kick rather than delivering the ball into the box.
“There was no time,” he said. “I thought, ‘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, thought ‘Nah – I’ll shoot’.”
Mahrez sent a curler around the Bournemouth wall and inside Asmir Begovic’s right post.
Steve Cook, who needlessly gave away the free-kick, was far from happy, particularly as the fourth official had indicated four minutes of stoppage time.
Cook said: “It is a sickening blow for us, especially to come in the 97th minute. I don’t know where they got seven minutes from.”
Josh King had put the visitors ahead with a 35th-minute penalty.