Leicester City boss Craig Shakespeare labelled Riyad Mahrez’s penalty “a freak” after the Foxes lost 2-1 to Manchester City.

The Algerian winger slipped as he went to take his penalty, kicking the ball onto his other foot as he took the spot kick.

Referee Bobby Madley disallowed the goal which meant the Foxes were denied a point at the Etihad.

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Shakespeare  said: “It is a freak penalty, a double touch.

“Clearly the letter of the law states it shouldn’t stand.

“What I will say having seen it again in terms of the letter of the law probably an eagle-eyed official would notice the encroachment of two of their players, but I know you don’t often get that these days.

“Encroachment happens and isn’t pulled back. The disappointment of the double touch maybe the encroachment happens first and he can pull it back, but I understand that in real time it happens very quickly.”

Leicester felt City’s first goal should not of stood after Raheem Sterling attempted to connect with David Silva’s shot while in an offside position.

Sterling missed his attempt but the Foxes claimed he was blocking the line of sight of keeper Peter Schmeichal while standing in an offside position.

Shakespeare said: “For the first goal, when I was in the technical area during the game I felt Sterling made an effort to touch the ball but I wasn’t sure if he was in an offside position.

“I think having seen the replay and it is clear to see he is in an offside position. Again, to the letter of the law, as soon as he makes an attempt for the ball, which you can clearly see he does, it is offside.

“It is not as if his foot is just raised. He clearly lifts his leg and then it is a clear offside decision.

“A lot more experienced managers than me have said about trying to get some support for referees in terms of video.”

Raheem Sterling says that Manchester City got the luck they deserved in their narrow win over Leicester.

City went 2-0 up thanks to goals from David Silva and Gabriel Jesus but Leicester pulled a goal back just before half-time through Shinji Okazaki.

But City hung on in the second half and it moves them closer to automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Leicester complained that Sterling was stood in an offside position in the build-up to Silva’s opener but the winger says he didn’t involve himself in the play.

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“It’s a massive win,” Sterling said. “There’s been times throughout the season when I felt we deserved more but didn’t get any luck. Today we got the luck.

“David shot and I realised if I touched it then it would be offside. I wasn’t worried because I knew I didn’t touch it.”

Meanwhile, Yaya Toure – who celebrated his 34th birthday on Saturday – said he was delighted to come away with all three points after a tough contest against last season’s Champions.

“It was difficult,” he said. “We controlled the game after the first goal and got the penalty.

“But when they scored it was quite difficult but at the end of the day we are delighted with the win.”

Ryan Mason has not put a time-scale on making a return to football after suffering a fractured skull in January.

The Tigers midfielder said he felt “lucky to be alive” after needing surgery following his clash of heads with Chelsea centre-back Gary Cahill.

“There’s no timescale on anything and I’m just taking each day as it comes,” the 25-year-old said.

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“But my mind is right and I’m looking forward to returning a better player.

“There will come a time when I can really kick on, and I hope that will be soon, but I’m not going to push things when it’s not necessary.”

The former Spurs man required eight minutes of treatment on the pitch at Stamford Bridge during which he was given oxygen and was carried off on a stretcher.

Mason then had surgery at St Mary’s Hospital in London, where he stayed for a week before being released.

“It was one of those unfortunate incidents that happen in football sometimes. Luckily I had the right people around me from the second it happened and I have been recovering ever since,” he added.

“It was a bit of an eye-opener as to what can happen to you at any time. It’s a scary moment when you’re on a football pitch and realise that your life is in danger – it was a one-in-a-million kind of thing.

“Thankfully the doctors and all of the medical people around me knew what was happening straight away and they handled it with great care and professionalism. I appreciate everything they did for me on that day.”

Morgan Schneiderlin says the whole of the Everton squad are keen for Ross Barkley to sign a new contract and commit his future to the club.

Barkley – who scored the only goal in Everton’s 1-0 win over Watford on Friday night – has been given until the end of the season to make a decision on his future.

Manager Ronald Koeman has told the 23-year-old he will be sold if he refuses to put pen to paper on the new deal.

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And Schneiderlin says he and the squad want Barkley to sign a new deal, he said: “We know the contract is between him and the club but what we can say is he is still working hard, has a good attitude and is very happy in the dressing room.

“We will see what is going to happen. We can’t say too much on whether he will sign the contract or not – we want him to sign but it is his decision. Hopefully he will make a good one by signing the contract.

Schneiderlin added: “I am very happy to play with him. He is a very good player with a good attitude, he works very hard every day to be a better player and he has great quality.

“He is still young and he is progressing week in, week out – and he can continue progressing.”

Philippe Coutinho could find himself in a more central role for Liverpool next season – that’s according to manager Jurgen Klopp.

Coutinho has notched 11 goals in all competitions this term, mostly from his position on the left of the Reds’ front three.

But Klopp believes that moving the Brazilian 24-year-old into the centre of the pitch – where he has previously played on occasion – more permanently, could really pay dividends as his side look to kick on next term.

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“Can we work on different things with Phil? Yes, of course,” said Klopp. “He plays at the moment kind of wing ‘10’ but he can also play as a No.8.

“That is possible and maybe he will have more influence and we can involve another player on the wing.

“That would make us stronger for sure, having his creativity in the middle of the park. He would have to adapt to that. He is young, full of talent and I’m pretty sure he thinks he is in the right place.

“He became this player at Liverpool. He knows about this. That is what is really special about him.

“He really likes being here, it’s not like someone has to force him. His family really likes it too.”

Chelsea’s David Luiz admits his decision to return to south-west London has been completely vindicated after winning the Premier League title at the first attempt.

The Brazilian defender won the FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League titles in his first stint with the Blues, but moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2014.

However, after being re-signed by Chelsea manager Antonio Conte at the beginning of the season – a move which raised a few eyebrows due to Luiz’ erratic play at times – the 30-year-old has impressed at the centre of a rock-solid back three.

And after Chelsea’s title was finally sealed with a 1-0 victory at West Brom on Friday, Luiz revealed that adding a Premier League winner’s medal to his collection was his main reason for coming back to Stamford Bridge.

“I’m happy, very happy,” he said. “It’s my first Premier League title. When I decided to come back here it was because of this.

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“I was dreaming of one day winning the Premier League, so I’m very happy because my dream has come true.

“To win a title in any country you need to be better than the others. There are 20 teams and they all want to win, so it’s never easy.

“There’s still some work to do, not just in the final, there are still two league games to go, so let’s rest a bit and prepare ourselves.

“If I say I’m not thinking about winning the double, I am a liar! Of course we think about this, but we need to think day by day, rest well, keep ourselves very good in these next two games to have a top performance against Arsenal.

“It will be a difficult game against a fantastic team, so we need to be at a high level.”

A back three is becoming all the rage in the Premier League and West Ham defender James Collins claims he is enjoying the formation du jour.

With Premier League champions Chelsea employing a back three to great effect since early in the campaign, other teams have started following suit – including Arsenal and West Ham.

Collins, Winston Reid and Jose Fonte have been the preferred defensive trio for the Hammers under Slaven Bilic and the formation helped them sink the title hopes of fierce rivals Tottenham with a 1-0 win last Friday.

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And Collins, who was already familiar with the system from his international career, believes it suits the Londoners down to the ground.

“I’ve played as part of a back three for a long time with Wales,” explained Collins. “We’re playing with that system and it’s working at the minute.

“It’s getting played more in the Premier League and we’ve got the players to do it.

“It’s been great playing alongside Reidy and Jose as a three. They’re tremendous centre-halves and any mistakes I make they see what’s going on and clear up for me. Hopefully I do the same for them. It’s going well.

“We’re full of confidence at the minute – we’re not really thinking about who we’re playing against, we just know that if we turn up and play like we did last week [against Spurs] we can beat anyone.”

Jan Vertonghen will take many fond memories from his time playing at White Hart Lane, but one moment sticks out as Spurs prepare to play their final match at the famous old ground.

The Lilywhites take on Manchester United and will be looking to sign off on a high after going the whole season unbeaten at home.

The Belgian has been reminiscing about his five years playing at White Hart Lane and the defender picked out Harry Kane’s last-minute winner over bitter rivals Arsenal in February 2015 as a highlight.

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“I think everyone remembers that Arsenal game where Harry scored twice and we came back late to win 2-1,” the 30-year-old said.

“You can pick ten games this season alone, we have this unbeaten run which will hopefully last until the end but, for me, that Arsenal game is the one I’ll always remember.”

Vertonghen admits he will be sad to leave the Lane but it excited by the prospect of playing at Tottenham’s new ground in two seasons.

He added: ““It’s our home – the home for the Spurs. We have great memories there, we’ve beaten big teams, enjoyed great European nights and everything.

“It will be hard to leave but we will have a new home soon enough. It’s always a shame to leave a place like this but it’s for a bigger cause.”

Watford did enough to earn a draw in their 1-0 defeat at Everton, according to manager Walter Mazzarri.

Ross Barkley’s second half strike was enough to give Ronald Koeman’s men all three points and leave the Hornets still not mathematically safe from relegation.

But despite losing their fourth successive match, Mazzarri remained upbeat about his side’s performance at Goodison Park.

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“Very unlucky, very unfortunate. We didn’t deserve to lose, we deserved at least a draw. In the first half and before their first goal we had chances with [Daryl] Janmaat and [Troy] Deeney, but the ball didn’t go in,” the 55-year-old said.

“Everton after the break they had one shot and one goal, so I’m very happy with the way my team played.”

Watford now face champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday night before playing Manchester City at Vicarage Road on the final day of the season.
The Hornets’ campaign has been marred by numerous injuries and it did not get any easier last night after defender Christian Kabasele was hauled off with a thigh problem in the first half.

But Mazzarri even joked that he is used to losing at least two players in a match due to injury.

“Today actually went well because usually I lose two players a game. But I don’t know, until now it went well, let’s see tomorrow if we lose a few more players,” Mazzarri added.

Scott Dann hopes to return to first team action before the end of the season after missing the last month through injury.

Dann has been out with a knee ligament injury picked up in Palace’s 2-1 win at Chelsea last month but says he is back running again.

The Palace skipper will not be fit in time for Palace’s game with Hull at Selhurst Park on Sunday but hopes to play against Manchester United at Old Trafford next week.

Dann said: “The injury is coming along really well; I’m back outside running again and hopefully I’ll be training with the lads by the start of next week, so I could play a part in the Manchester United game.

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“Hopefully it won’t be a crucial one for us, and we’ll get the job done on Sunday.”

Crystal Palace are four points above third from bottom Hull with two games remaining and they know that a win over the Tigers on Sunday will guarantee them a place in the Premier League next season.
And Dann says the Palace squad are all fully aware of how important Sunday’s game is.

He added: “Having our destiny in our own hands is all you can ask for. Obviously, we don’t want to be in this position but when you consider where we were a few months ago and the results we’ve had, that should give us confidence.

“Everybody knows how big a game this will be, and it’s all about staying calm and producing your best performance despite everything that’s riding on the result. We can’t get caught up too much in the occasion because if we perform to our best, then we’ll get what we need, so we just need to focus on the task in hand.”