The Premier League is an unforgiving environment, as Khusanov found to his cost in a torrid opening four minutes of his City career.
He must have hoped his initial mistake in heading the ball to Jackson would not end in a goal, but there was no reprieve. And when he gifted possession to Chelsea in his own half shortly afterwards, he knew Cole Palmer had to be taken down at the cost of a yellow card.
As baptisms of fire go, this was pretty intense.
In mitigation Khusanov does not speak much English, according to his manager Pep Guardiola.
He had two training days with his team-mates – and one of those was a recovery session after the Paris St-Germain game which he was not involved in.
Khusanov unsurprisingly looked unsure of what positions he was supposed to be taking up and, when the ball was played out to Jadon Sancho on one Chelsea counter, he needed a long check over his shoulder to see if he was expected to go and close him down.
-It was incredibly tough for the Premier League’s first player from Uzbekistan and he was left blinking hard – almost in disbelief – at the maelstrom he had been thrown into, although, unlike Patrice Evra when he made his debut on this ground 19 years ago, he at least made it out for the second half. It was eight minutes into the second period when he was replaced by John Stones, getting a hug of congratulation from Guardiola on his way to the dugout.
At the other end of the pitch, Marmoush looked more sure of himself and was a genuine threat.
What he struggled with was staying onside, which proved particularly costly when he capitalised on Sanchez’s failure to hold Ilkay Gundogan’s curling shot. When Marmoush stuck the ball into the net, the flag went up. If he had left it for skipper Bernardo Silva, who was right behind him, the goal would have stood.
The positive for both players is they have got match number one out of the way. The negative for Guardiola is both are ineligible for Wednesday’s crucial Champions League encounter with Club Brugge, which City have to win to claim a play-off place.
