Leicester’s midfield mastermind dawdled one way, drifted the other and all the time produced an artful display that took Manchester City apart
Jamie Vardy scored a brilliant hat-trick at the King Power Stadium, but of all the old steamrollering Leicester City title tropes to return on a sodden night it was the sight of Riyad Mahrez in regal, unimpeded form that will linger in the memory.
It is not often a football match is decided by a pair of near-identical cushioned backspun half-volley passes. But then, there are not many footballers quite like Mahrez. Or at least not like Mahrez when the opposition give him space, as Manchester City did here, and when the footballer of the year is able to produce again a performance as decisive and as beautifully ornate as his opening hour in Leicester’s revivalist 4-2 defeat of a confused and brittle City.
Related: Jamie Vardy hat-trick leads Leicester demolition of Manchester City
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