Tottenham’s goalkeeper Joe Hart has insisted that Algerian fans should take the praises for Manchester City’s qualification instead of Pep Guardiola, adding that the match-winner Riyad Mahrez was considered ‘not great enough’ by the Spaniard.
Mahrez has shown his reliability in Guardiola’s squad this season after propelling them past Paris Saint-Germain to reach their first Champions League final in history.
He has been directly involved in 6 goals in his last 5 Champions League games for Manchester City including back-to-back semi-final goals against PSG.
But, his former teammate at City has credited his red-hot form to the winger’s home fans, claiming they forced Guardiola into giving the Algerian more game time.
“Pep Guardiola should be the last person to be praised. He did not like Riyad Mahrez at all until the Algerian fans kept on attacking him and the club administration for not playing him enough.
“He had no choice but to give him more game time to silence the Algerians. Since then Riyad Mahrez has helped his team to the Champions League Final. So credit to Algerians, not Pep Guardiola who kept insisting that Mahrez was not great enough since he was always on the bench.”
The Algerian international scored in both halves of the game as City edged out PSG 4-1 on goal aggregate to seal their place in the UEFA Champions League final billed for May 29.
He was also the hero on the night before. His match-winning free-kick City at Parc de Princes had put the Manchester based club in a comfortable position heading into the second leg.
