Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola congratulated Riyad Mahrez for his wonderful winner against Chelsea...and then demanded more from him.
Mahrez had a number of struggles during his debut season at the Etihad and the outstanding form of Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling made first-team opportunities difficult to come by. He was declared the best player on the opening weekend of this season after a star turn at West Ham but has been made to wait for his chances again with no starts in the last four league games.
With Bernardo banned for the visit of Chelsea, a moment of individual brilliance from Mahrez won the game. He danced between two players with the ball into the box and nutmegged a third to put it beyond Kepa and into the far corner.
Asked about the matchwinner, Guardiola noted a word of caution as he touched on Mahrez's previous performances.
"It was a fantastic goal," he said. "I want the best for my players and Riyad has the qualities there but he can do better.
"You saw this season he was top, top, top quality. Today he made a fantastic goal, he fought a lot but I'm pretty sure we're going to increase in the next weeks."
