Abdukadir Khusanov played a full match for Manchester City in the 25th round of the Premier League, continuing his impressive streak - Guardiola has been winning games in which he has fielded the Uzbek defender. Pep praised Abdukadir after the big win over Newcastle. Two important matches await him ahead - the return match against Real Madrid in Madrid and the match against Liverpool.
Photo: Getty images
Akanji's place has been filled
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was expected to rotate his team in defence against Newcastle after their Champions League play-off defeat to Real Madrid. And so it turned out - the defensive duo of Dias and Ake was replaced by the duo of Husanov and Stones. Pep trusted Abdukadir to replace Manuel Akanji, who was out for a long time, and the 20-year-old defender was able to show a decent performance against Newcastle, one of the most aggressive teams in the Premier League. It is also worth noting that the City defence managed to stop Alexander Isak, one of the Premier League's top scorers, in the big win thanks to Omar Marmoush's hat-trick. In any case, City's defence has conceded a total of 9 goals in the last 3 games in which Khusanov has not been on the pitch (Arsenal – 1:5, Leyton – 2:1, Real – 2:3).
Social media is full of memes about Isak scoring a goal in the match against Liverpool (3:3) and scoring 8.1 points in the match against Van Dijk, scoring an own goal in the match against Arsenal (0:2), receiving an 8.7 rating in the match against Saliba, and receiving a much lower rating of 6.2 in the match against Khusanov.
Another notable statistic is that Abdukadir made the most forward passes among the players on the field against Newcastle.
Khusanov – City's first step towards victory
Yes, the 20-year-old defender from Uzbekistan is slowly becoming Manchester City's winning mascot. The statistics also speak for themselves – in the last three games that Pep Guardiola has played Abdukadir, City have scored a total of 9 goals and conceded 2 goals. Our compatriot scored the goal for the Londoners in their debut match, which was defeated 3-1 by Chelsea. Since then, he has scored his first goal for his new team against Leyton Orient in the cup, while Newcastle were defeated by a large margin on Saturday. In the matches against Arsenal and Real Madrid, where Khusanov was not used, the team, on the contrary, lost, conceding a total of 8 goals. Therefore, Khusanov's presence in the squad is becoming the first step towards victory for the "city".
Photo: Getty images
Husanov left Haaland, Foden and Gundogan behind
The 20-year-old Uzbek defender's 90-minute performance against Newcastle was also recognized by the British media.
In particular, journalists from the BBC, one of the most influential British television channels, rated Abdukodyr Husanov's first full match with 7.44 points.
For comparison, the national team defender managed to leave behind such stars as Phil Foden (7.38 points), Ilkay Gundogan (7.30), and Erling Haaland (7.21) in this match.
Manchester City players' scores against Newcastle (BBC commentary):
Praise from Guardiola
The Manchester City manager praised the Uzbek defender after the match against Newcastle.
"I am pleased with the pace and our performance today. Nico Gonzalez and Abdukadir Khusanov played at a great level. We have an important second leg against Real Madrid ahead of us. We need to do everything we can to make sure our fans go home happy.
The new players have a lot to offer us. Khusanov has speed and drive. That's why we bought him. He is very fast, young and confident. He is distinguished by his bold and aggressive play. He is not afraid of one-on-one battles, and even if he loses, he immediately returns to help. He is adapting very well,” the Spanish coach said, praising Khusanov.
Photo: Getty images
Next up – matches against Real Madrid and Liverpool
Manchester City face their biggest game of the season in their next match. Pep Guardiola may have almost given up hope of retaining the Premier League title, but he is still hopeful of a Champions League campaign. City will be at their best in the second leg of their play-off against Real Madrid in Madrid. After the first leg, the team has nothing to lose and Pep will only encourage his players to win. After Wednesday night's "battle", City will face leaders Liverpool on Sunday. Khusanov has shown that he is worthy of playing in the semi-finals next week, which could be a turning point in the season for the "City". Therefore, we can expect Abdukadir to play at the Santiago Bernabeu in three days. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”
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