Riyad Mahrez admitted his goal against Arsenal was lucky, but took some credit for his strike that set Manchester City on their way to the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
After Alex Lacazette had cancelled out Gabriel Jesus' opener, City were tasked with coming out in the second half and scoring a second goal in a game for the first time in four games. They were helped when Mahrez won a free kick on the edge of the area, and the Algerian stood up to take the set piece which was fumbled into the top corner by a well-placed Runar Alex Runarsson for the Gunners.
While the goal was a clear error by Runarsson, Mahrez spoke after the game and revealed he struck his free kick straight at the goalkeeper as he expected him to move out of the way given his unusual starting spot close to the far post.
Mahrez said: "I was surprised at the position of the keeper. He was very so close to the post, I thought he was going to move a little bit, that's why I put it there, but he didn't move. Luckily he didn't catch it properly so good for us."
The goal restored City's lead, with a Phil Foden strike following shortly after before Aymeric Laporte headed home a Foden cross after a one-two from a corner with Mahrez.
The win takes City into the last four of the Carabao Cup, and Mahrez said he hopes the four goals scored can give his side some confidence heading into the Christmas schedule in the Premier League.
"It was a solid performance," he said.
"We started good and then they equalised. In the second half we scored with the lucky free kick and got the third one and was more easy for us.
"Sometimes it's like this we cannot always dominate every game. We were good but didn't score the second one. So when you don't score the second one always they can score at any time. In the second half we scored the second and third and we make it more easy for us.
"We have been struggling but it's football, we'll come back. It's not easy to score four, five goals even if it's always been our standard. Today we score four goals, concede one, it's a solid performance."
