ETIHAD – Fresh off the plane from a Washington inauguration Gianni Infantino has seen his fair share of car crashes this week. Even Fifa’s unflappable pantomime villain must have felt a twinge of sympathy as he sat in attendance for this one.
The opening four minutes of the promising 20-year-old’s Manchester City career induced such a collective wince that as one, the Etihad took to warmly applauding the most basic short passes he completed to Ederson. A heartening attempt to raise his spirits. It might well have had the opposite effect.
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Read MoreExcept it did, and almost immediately he had overthought his pass and wandered sheepishly back into the mouth of the wolf. The touch felt too cute – he will learn quickly in English football that it is rarely a clever idea to pass into the path of an insurgent Cole Palmer. All that remained was for him to career into his opponent and earn himself a booking.
He rocked up alongside Omar Marmoush and Vitor Reis not only to strengthen a squad decimated by injury – much like Erling Haaland’s decade-long new contract, these transfers were as much about giving two-fingers to the Premier League as finding a quick fix to their perishing reputation. That is how desperate City are to prove it is business as usual.
But that is the callous new reality of a faltering set-up, less and less resembling the empire Pep built despite a statement victory here.
Khusanov was substituted early in the second half (Photo: PA)But when the story of their decline is written many fingers will point towards the boardroom, who did not appear to see it coming. That is how Khusanov, one for the future, was thrust so abruptly into the here and now.
Better still to leave hope of a City equaliser to Marc Cucurella, shrugged off in a foot race with Matheus Nunes; Robert Sanchez’s stop rebounded to Josko Gvardiol, who had been allowed to run off Madueke too easily, to slot into an empty goal.
Nobody really believes City have really lost their fear factor, whatever Pep says – Levi Colwill took a yellow card for time-wasting on the chin after just 25 minutes. Nor that they have entirely forgotten “who we are” and “don’t have a squad”, some other highlights from this campaign’s litany of hyperboles.
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Read MoreExactly how bright the future can be depends not only on the outcome of those 115 charges but on how players like Khusanov are handled.
Kindly, City’s producers had already compiled his best bits to project onto the big screens, including the moment he brushed Jackson off in a tussle. Guardiola greeted him with a cuddle.
Just as well that neither of these sides are serious title contenders, or it might have cut even deeper.
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