Riyad Mahrez follows in the footsteps of Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi

Riyad Mahrez’s penalty against Brentford on Thursday night stretched his scoring run to seven successive Manchester City appearances.

The Algeria winger, who has three goals in two games since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, is only the third player to score in seven straight appearances under Pep Guardiola during the Spaniard’s illustrious managerial career.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how Mahrez compares to a pair of high-profile Argentinians.

October to November 2010 and February to March 2012

Barcelona’s greatest ever goalscorer achieved the feat twice, with his nine-game scoring run in October and November 2010 a record under Guardiola for Mahrez to chase.

He scored all Barca’s goals in a pair of 2-0 wins over Copenhagen and Real Zaragoza and, after skipping the cup tie against lowly AD Ceuta, returned with another brace in a 5-0 win over Sevilla.

He netted in the return fixtures with Copenhagen and Ceuta, sandwiching a league goal against Getafe, and added two against Villarreal and a hat-trick in an 8-0 thumping of Almeria. Panathinaikos were his final victims before a 5-0 Clasico win over Real Madrid in which he settled for a pair of assists.

If that 15-goal salvo seemed impressive, Messi’s second entry on the list almost defies belief – 18 goals in eight games between February 14 and March 24, 2012.

Lionel Messi, Feb-Mar 2012

He rounded off a 3-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen, added four goals in a 5-1 rout of Valencia and scored the winner against Atletico Madrid before sitting out the win over Sporting Gijon.

The break did Messi good as he returned to action with five goals in the Champions League return leg against Leverkusen, adding both goals at Racing Santander and the second in a 2-0 win at