Shakespeare: That was the Mahrez of old
Riyad Mahrez was the difference maker in Leicester City's win over Hull City and Craig Shakespeare says he has rediscovered form of old.
Craig Shakespeare feels Riyad Mahrez was back to his old self with his crucial goal in Leicester City's 3-1 Premier League win over Hull City.
The champions made it two wins from two since the controversial sacking of Claudio Ranieri to move five points clear of the relegation zone.
Leicester fell behind after 14 minutes when Sam Clucas put Hull ahead from close range.
However, Jamie Vardy set up Christian Fuchs to level matters 13 minutes later, before Mahrez fired in from the edge of the area with a vicious low effort to complete the turnaround just before the hour mark.
Tom Huddlestone's own goal made it 3-1 late on and Shakespeare was full of praise for Algeria international Mahrez.
"Riyad Mahrez has been frustrated with himself. We told him to go out there and be himself. It is the Mahrez of old with the goal he scored," caretaker manager Shakespeare said - as quoted by BBC Sport.
"We spoke to the players before the game, they showed resilience and character. It was against the run of play after going 1-0 down, but to bounce back showed the resilience in our side.
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"Results give players confidence. Back-to-back wins will give confidence for the last 11 games of the season.
"In terms of our points, it has been a turnaround. Everyone looked at the game against Liverpool on Monday and to get the three points under pressure was important but to back that up with another win was vitally important."
Asked about his hopes of getting the permanent manager's job, Shakespeare added: "I am comfortable. We have a few days away now. I have been kept informed. I am told we will have a chat at the end of next week."
Hull are now four points adrift of safety and boss Marco Silva conceded they are facing an uphill task.
"We were better in the first half and scored from a counter-attack. They had a good reaction but after half-time, the score was fair," Silva said.
"We had two good chances in the second half, but they ended up scoring two. We did not put the ball into the net.
"The numbers are not good for us, that is clear. We need to fight but when you have chances to score, that is what makes the difference.
"We need to always fight, but we can rest and analyse the game now. We have to prepare for the next game against Swansea."
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