Pep Guardiola defended Abdukodir Khusanov after Manchester City’s new £33.8m defender endured a torrid start to his debut in Saturday’s win over Chelsea, the manager saying this “is the best lesson you can take”.
The 20-year-old’s weak header back to Ederson led to Noni Madueke’s third minute opener, and he was booked soon after for fouling Cole Palmer.
Of the Uzbek, Guardiola said: “It is not easy for him. He trains once and then to play against [Nicolas] Jackson and Cole and Madueke and [Jadon] Sancho. It is a process when you buy a player this young. He will learn. These kinds of actions are the best lesson you can take. He doesn’t speak English so I didn’t speak to him. He’ll be fine. He only made one or two training sessions.”
Guardiola explained why he started him. “I didn’t want to push John Stones, who is returning from injury – with Wednesday’s game [against Club Brugge].
“The players were together. That was massively important. Any player can make a mistake. The fans always support the new players. He’s so young. He will learn. In this kind of situation, there’s nothing much to say. He knows he made it.”
Erling Haaland, who scored City’s second, praised the display. “I think it was overall a great performance even though we started horrific,” said the striker. “A fantastic team performance – I am really happy.”
Josko Gvardiol equalised on 42 minutes before second-half strikes from Haaland and Phil Foden sealed victory, lifting City to fourth, three points behind Nottingham Forest. Guardiola said: “Now we’re closer to Nottingham but Bournemouth are on an impressive run.”
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Robert Sánchez was out of position for Haaland’s strike, allowing him a lobbed finish. Enzo Maresca retains faith in his goalkeeper. “We trust Robert for sure but in the same moment he is aware that he is making mistakes,” said the Chelsea head coach. “We continue to trust Robert but we have an entire week, see the reaction and decide for the next games [who plays in goal].”
Chelsea have now won only one of their past seven Premier League games. “In my opinion we’re a better team than one month ago,” said Maresca. “These kind of games are going to make us better, we need to live this kind of experience. We can be third or sixth, every game can change it a little bit. We’re focused and trying to improve game after game.”
