Man City 3-1 Chelsea: Premier League champions recover from Abdukodir Khusanov’s nightmare start
If Kusanov looks back at the archives, he will find that he is not the first signing to endure a tortuous bow at the Etihad Stadium in January.
In fact, he lasted longer in this game than former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, who was substituted at half-time in the away derby against Manchester City 19 years ago.
His performance hasn’t been too bad since then.
However, Kusanov, who is only 20 years old, has only played 70 adult football games in his career, and his English level is also very low. Kusanov needs time.
“It was certainly not the best start but he will learn his lesson,” Guardiola said. “He is young and has been here for many years. He has not trained with us. We have come from Ipswich and PSG. German, so it’s just recovery, recovery, recovery.”
“I had to learn Russian or Uzbek to communicate with him because he didn’t speak English very well, but in that situation there was nothing to say. He knew he had made a mistake. So I took him aside , and what did you say? “
Kusanov’s initial mistake was to head the ball straight to Nicholas Jackson deep in City’s half, who set up Noni Maduk to finish.
When Chelsea next attacked, he again lost possession in his own half and, eager to make amends, cut down Cole Palmer and was booked. This is the earliest yellow card a player has received on his Premier League debut since Cardiff City’s Lee Peltier against Bournemouth in 2018.
Redknapp added: “I think it’s a bit of a risk (playing Abdulkodir Kusanov). For (Omar) Mamouch it’s less of a risk but when you play as a centre-back , which is much more difficult.
“I think Pep will now be thinking ‘I shouldn’t have played against him’. It was a very difficult debut. Hopefully he will become a stronger player because of it.”
City’s players clearly showed their support and the grateful crowd responded when Kusanov was replaced by John Stones nine minutes into the second half.
“I didn’t make a substitution for the mistake,” Guardiola said. “I did it to get a yellow card. Also, I needed John Stones on Wednesday.”
Manchester City will play their final game in the first phase of the Champions League on Wednesday and need to beat Club Brugge to qualify for the play-offs.
Their other new players Omar Mamouche and Vito Reis were not allowed to play in that game either.
While teenager Reis watched the game from the dugout, Mamouch also started and looked threatening. His goal was disallowed for offside, and there were many signs that his combination with Haaland could be profitable. picture.
“I’ve seen him in the Bundesliga,” Haaland told BBC Match of the Day. “You can see he has something special and it’s going to be great to play with him.”
