Riyad Mahrez reminds Mo Salah and Sadio Mane there's another African king on Man City return

Two more goals, 15 for the season and a starring role in a 4-1 win.

It sounds like a dream weekend for most footballers but part of Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez will have been gutted his wonderful individual performance against Fulham in the FA Cup ever had to take place.

A little over 24 hours after full-time in that 4-1 win for Pep Guardiola’s side, Senegal will face Egypt in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are the headline-grabbing stars, pitted against one another in the battle for continental glory.

Two-and-a-half years ago at the 2019 edition, Mahrez was the man on centre stage - inspiring Algeria to glory, having netted an unforgettable free-kick deep into stoppage time to sink Nigeria in the semi-final.

Hopes of a repeat were high as the Foxes entered the current tournament in Cameroon buoyed by a mammoth winning run. That was snapped at 35 matches by Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast then dumped them out at the group stage.

For Mahrez, as his country’s talisman and the outstanding African footballing talent of his generation alongside Salah and Mane, this will have stung badly.

Before the fourth-round tie with Fulham, Guardiola said Mahrez was in “perfect” condition to return for City after some time to lick his wounds. It quickly became clear this was not a case of the manager laying it on thick to protect one of his players.

City fell behind in the fourth minute to a goal from Fabio Carvalho, who might soon be joining Mane and Salah at Liverpool.

Mahrez was on hand to tee up Ilkay Gundogan’s instant response and, as City gradually worked their way into the ascendancy against ambitious opponents, their right-winger’s calling card was on display.