Back at his former King Power Stadium stomping ground, the Algerian proved City’s assist king, slaloming through the Foxes defence before then supplying a slide rule pass for substitute Jesus.
The Brazilian striker needed no second invitation to fire home at the near post for a dramatic 80th minute winner which was confirmed after a VAR check for offside.
However, reflecting on the win, Mahrez said that his first thoughts were to fire in on goal himself before he saw his team-mate.
“At first, I wanted to shoot but then I saw the space, and at the last moment I see Gabi,” Mahrez revealed.
“I knew he wasn’t going to be offside because he was watching the line, so I gave him the ball and it was a good finish.
“It was a tough game. It’s always difficult to come here, they played very deep, five at the back.
“We tried to break them down, but it was difficult. After the second half it was more on the counter, so we had more space and that made the difference.”
The only frustrating aspect to our win was the fact that Pep Guardiola’s side missed another penalty with Sergio Aguero seeing a second half spot-kick saved by Kasper Schemeichel.
However, for Mahrez the victory – which stretched our advantage over third placed Leicester to seven points – served as the perfect preparation for Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg trip to Real Madrid.
“The most important thing is that we won today even if we miss the penalty. Today we showed a great reaction after the miss,” Mahrez added.
“It was a perfect game to prepare [for Real Madrid], a tough game, we are ready.”
