Pep Guardiola hails Riyad Mahrez as best Man City player in final third as he hits career high

Riyad Mahrez reached a new career-best goals tally to secure an FA Cup quarter-final place for Manchester City in a tricky tie at Peterborough.

The Algeria winger bagged his 19th of the season with a high-quality step-over and threaded finish into the far corner as the Blues stepped up the class in the second half to end Posh hopes of an upset.

That puts him well clear of the pack in terms of City's top scorers, with only Raheem Sterling (13), Phil Foden (10) and Bernardo Silva (10) anywhere near.

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It was a high-quality goal and Guardiola said his high tally this season was no great surprise.

"Riyad always had this quality in the final third," he said. "He's the best player in the final third that we have with the sense of goal, the mentality, the aggressiveness. He scored a fantastic goal and I'm so proud for the game he played."

Mahrez gave City the lead and Jack Grealish doubled it with a superb piece of control and finish from Phil Foden's long pass, which Guardiola likened to the combination with Joao Cancelo for his goal in the 5-1 win at Club Brugge earlier in the season.

"They were brilliant goals," said Guardiola. "The quality for Riyad and after, the second goal the same. It was good, we created enough chances knowing it is so difficult. All of them were clear."

Guardiola said he hoped the link-up between Foden and Grealish will provide many more goals in the years to come, adding: "The pass from Phil was excellent, the control was quite similar.

"The pass from Phil was similar to what he did to Joao in Brugge and the control from Jack was excellent. It was good from Jack, who was aggressive today in the