Khusanov was one of two new players Guardiola arranged to start in the match against Chelsea, alongside Omar Marmoush. However, the Uzbek defender did not have a satisfactory performance. He gifted Chelsea a goal after only 3 minutes of play. In the 6th minute, Khusanov received another yellow card after fouling Cole Palmer.
In the 52nd minute, Guardiola took Khusanov off the field and replaced him with John Stones. Fortunately, Khusanov's performance did not affect the final result. After falling behind, the reigning Premier League champions successfully came back thanks to 3 goals from Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden. With this victory, Man City returned to the Top 4 of the Premier League.
“Yeah, I think Khusanov didn’t have the best start. He’ll learn because he’s very young. It’s not easy to deal with Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson. Khusanov will learn, I’m pretty sure of that,” Guardiola said after the game.
Khusanov moved to Man City from Lens for more than $41 million. He is the first Uzbekistan player to play in the Premier League. The 20-year-old centre-back only had a few training sessions with Man City, before being used by Guardiola in the big match against Chelsea.
Khusanov was forced to make his debut early at centre-back due to injuries to Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake, while John Stones was only fit enough to be included on the bench. Guardiola said Stones was needed for the crucial Champions League game against Club Brugge in midweek.
Man City need to beat Club Brugge to advance in the UEFA Champions League. Therefore, Guardiola had to make a somewhat risky decision, although he clearly understood the risks of using a young, inexperienced rookie who even had poor communication with his teammates because of his poor English.
"I have to learn Russian or Uzbek to communicate with Khusanov. He doesn't speak English fluently. He knows he made a mistake. What can I say? Tell him not to make a mistake?
"He certainly doesn't want that to happen. We know that. I changed him mainly because of the yellow card, not because of the mistake. I need John Stones for the midweek game," Guardiola added.
With the victory over Chelsea, Man City officially surpassed their opponents to enter the Top 4 of the Premier League.
