‘Not the best start’ – Pep Guardiola reacts to Khusanov howler against Chelsea | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola believes Abdukodir Khusanov will learn from his Premier League debut against Chelsea after making a nightmare start to his Man City career.

With Ruben Dias ruled out of the game, the Uzbek centre-back was thrown in at the deep end on Saturday just five days after completing his £33.5m transfer from Lens.

It was an ignominious introduction to English football as the 20-year-old gifted Chelsea the opening goal two minutes in, his tame header back to Ederson intercepted by Nicolas Jackson before Noni Madueke tapped home.

Khusanov received a booking a couple of minutes later after passing the ball straight to Cole Palmer and hacking him down in an attempt to retrieve it. But the youngster recovered to put in a solid showing until he was replaced by John Stones in the second half.

Read – Haaland hails ‘special’ Man City signing following Premier League debut

Man City collectively recovered, too, from their sluggish start to the game, as Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden got on the scoresheet to complete the comeback and earn a very important win at home.

“It was not the best start,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “We were lucky they didn’t punish us with a second goal. But after that we recovered emotionally really well. We made a good performance especially against the team we were playing.

“We had more of the ball than in the last matches. They are just three points but in the situation we are in, they are really important.”

Pep Guardiola backs Khusanov to learn from Chelsea howler

Asked how Khusanov was feeling after his error, Guardiola revealed: “He doesn’t speak English so I didn’t speak with him! He will be fine.

“He only had one or two training sessions. I didn’t want to push John coming from injuries. I need him for Wednesday (against Club Brugge in the Uefa Champions League).

“He will learn. He is aware of what happened. How the players were with him was massively important. Any player can make a mistake. If after that you feel alone, it’s even tougher.

“He is so young. He has come for many years. He will learn.”

Read – Five high-profile Premier League players who could move this month

See Also – Nations that have provided just one Premier League player

Follow The Football Faithful on Social Media:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok