Fans spot classy gesture from Chelsea star Nicolas Jackson to Man City newbie Abdukodir Khusanov after horror debut
NICOLAS JACKSON was seen making a classy gesture to rookie Abdukodir Khusanov following a horror start to his debut.
The Chelsea forward was lining up against the newly-signed Manchester City defender.
And the Blues star helped his side get off to the perfect start during Sunday’s Etihad clash as he pounced on an error by Khusanov.
The 20-year-old, signed from Lens for a fee in the region of £34million, miscued his jump to clear an aerial ball after grappling with Jackson.
As the ball bounced behind him he then ran back towards his goal and inexplicably tried to head it back to his goalkeeper, only for the header to be underhit.
This then allowed Jackson to nab the ball back before squaring it for Noni Madueke to put Chelsea ahead after just three minutes.
Mere moments later Khusanov was involved in another flashpoint as he gave the ball away before clattering Cole Palmer outside the area and being given a yellow card as a result.
The Uzbek defender appeared to be quite emotional following his baptism of fire at the Etihad.
During the free-kick, Jackson – who had his own struggles when initially arriving in England – was pictured attempting to comfort the defender.
Fans picked up on the kind gesture on social media.
One fan said: “Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson tried to comfort Khusanov last night, this is such a lovely gesture.”
A second said: “Well played to Jackson, understands this is a hard league and this lads got it stacked against him. He’ll do well I’m a fan of him already.”
A third added: “Respect button checked.”
Another said: “Good man.”
However, some fans could not help but reminisce of times past when such emotion would have been exploited.
One fan said: “I miss Diego Costa in situations like this.”
A second said: “This is why he will never be elite. He’s not a killer. The mentality is not right. You do this after the game.”
A third added: “Utter woke nonsense, should’ve whispered ‘Barclays heritage’ in his ear.”
Khusanov recovered to have a solid debut aside from his horror introduction to Premier League life as he was replaced by John Stones in the 54th minute.
Pep Guardiola insisted the error was “the best lesson you can take”, when talking to reporters after the game.
Fortunately for him as well, City managed to recover to win the game as Chelsea’s own Robert Sanchez was involved in a huge howler of his own between the sticks to gift Erling Haaland a goal.
Fellow debutant Omar Marmoush – signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for around £59m – impressed and had the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be ruled offside.
The result moved City back into the top four, while Chelsea dropped to sixth place.
City need to win against Club Brugge on Wednesday or face going out of the Champions League in the league phase.