Thanks to his effort against the Parisians, the Citizens ace has become Algeria’s joint-top scorer in the history of the competition
Riyad Mahrez’s second-half winner in Manchester City’s 2-1 victory against Paris Saint-Germain has seen him match Yacine Brahimi to become Algeria’s joint-top scorer in the history of the Champions League with eight goals.
🇩🇿 Top scorers in the Champions League:
⚽️8⃣ Yacine Brahimi
⚽️8⃣ Riyad Mahrez
⚽️6⃣ Sofiane Feghouli #UCL pic.twitter.com/yU5ic3YraL— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 28, 2021
In the 2017-18 campaign, Brahimi scored once as his former team FC Porto decimated AS Monaco 5-1 on December 6, 2017, at the Estadio do Dragao – to steer clear of Sofiane Feghouli.
Against Mauricio Pochettino’s team in Wednesday’s semi-final first leg clash, 30-year-old Mahrez accentuated his relevance in Pep Guardiola’s squad with the winner.
Kevin De Bruyne had canceled Marquinhos’ first-half strike, albeit, it was the former Leicester City man who had the final say in the 71st minute.
Leandro Paredes had brought down Phil Foden and the Algeria international exploited a big gap in the wall between Paredes and Presnel Kimpembe to curl his shot past Keylor Navas.
That saw him match his compatriot’s feat in Europe’s elite club competition, while Feghouli – who now represents Turkish Super Lig outfit Galatasaray – is third with just six goals.
Speaking to the Citizens’ website after his heroics, the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winner claimed his strike against PSG was a miss-hit.
“I wanted to go around the wall to be honest and I missed it, it went between the two players and fortunately it was in,” he said.
“I was so happy, I knew we could win here and to score to make it 2-1 for the team was amazing.”
Praising his effect, City boss Guardiola described how the African revels on the biggest stages.
“He played really well and in the big stages he handles it really well,” the Spaniard stated.
“It’s a guy who doesn’t feel the pressure. He was so aggressive. His first movement was a pass to Kevin [De Bruyne]. He played really well.”
Mahrez would eclipse Brahimi’s mark should he get a goal in the return fixture at the Etihad.
He is expected to be in action when his Manchester-based outfit takes on Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
They could wrap up the Premier League title before then if other results go their way.
