Pep Guardiola was all praise for his winger Riyad Mahrez whose inspirational brace saw them rout Chelsea 4-0 in a FA Cup third-round match at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday night. “The quality from Riyad is everything. He helped us to break the game. It was really good, but always at zero-zero things can happen and a fantastic free-kick. He played an outstanding game, playing wider, playing more narrow, so, yes, good game,” said Guardiola after the emphatic win.

On the money straightaway

“We were really good right from the first minute until the end. We made an incredible, intense game against a top side and we improved our game from the last game we played against them three days ago [City had won the English Premier League clash 1-0],” added Guardiola.