Arsenal drew 1-1 with Manchester City on Sunday in London because of a last-gasp purpose from Brazilian winger Gabriel Martinelli.
The draw spared Arsenal’s blushes after a tough, chess-like match that noticed Arsenal wrestle to interrupt by means of Metropolis’s traces.
The key to Metropolis’s resolute protection? Two new-look fullbacks on reverse sides of the sector.
Metropolis coach Pep Guardiola has lengthy championed ball-playing defenders like English left again Kyle Walker and Portuguese proper again Matheus Nunes. However Metropolis’s match in opposition to Arsenal was formed, coloured and in the end determined by two defenders championing a wildly completely different strategy.
The “practice” from Tashkent
Three years in the past, Metropolis full again Abdukodir Khusanov was toiling away for a less-than-stellar youth workforce in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. At present, he is one of many prime defensive prospects on earth. The 21-year-old started his profession as a battering ram of a right-sided defender — nicknamed “the train” by his Uzbek teammates — however has morphed right into a frighteningly gifted and versatile participant beneath Guardiola.
“He’s younger, so quick, and really clear in possession,” Guardiola said of Khusanov. “Generally his vitality results in incorrect choices, however with time, he’ll enhance. We carry on speaking to him.”
These talks have borne fruit. Khusanov had a Metropolis debut to neglect when he joined the membership in January 2025, incomes an affordable yellow card simply 4 minutes into his time on the sector. However since that tough day, Khusanov has leveled up, mixing his signature straight-line velocity and power with Guardiola’s most popular ball-playing abilities, and the impact has been magical for Metropolis, culminating in an eyebrow-raising, game-winning efficiency in opposition to Manchester United within the derby this season.
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