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Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez breaks silence after shocking penalty miss v Liverpool

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Riyad Mahrez smashed his penalty over the bar (Picture: Getty)

Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez insists he will not let his shocking penalty miss against Liverpool affect his confidence.

Mahrez had a golden chance to give City their first Premier League victory over Liverpool at Anfield for 15 years when the visitors were awarded a penalty in the 84th minute.

Substitute Leroy Sane was taken out by Liverpools Virgil van Dijk in the box, but Mahrez blazed his spot-kick way over the bar.

The Premier League clash finished goalless, meaning City, Liverpool and Chelsea are joint-top of the table going into the second international break of the season.

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Mahrez, speaking for the first time about the penalty incident, said: My record is good in the Champions League yes, but not in the Premier League.

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We have to go forward and stay strong – its football, its life.

It wont affect me at all. Everyone misses penalties, even big, big players.

Of course I wanted to score to help the team to win. I made the decision to shoot in the middle – the ball went up.

58 – Among players to have taken at least 10 penalties in the Premier League, only Juan Pablo Angel (50%, 5/10) has a lower success rate than Riyad Mahrez (58%, 7/12). Fluffed. pic.twitter.com/SKbNurWsQD

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 7, 2018

Now I have to look forward. Its part of football – sometimes you score, sometimes you miss.

But the most important part was that our performance was very good. We deserved to win, but sometimes its important not to lose, as well.

Pep Guardiola refused to criticise Mahrez, who joined City from Leicester in the summer, and praised his courage for stepping up, with Sergio Aguero already off the field.