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Manchester City have had issues at right back but Pep Guardiola tried a different solution in Sunday's derby victory over United.
Four games into this season and Manchester City have fielded three different right-backs. A position that many expected to be a problem when it wasn't addressed in the summer could be proving to be just that.
Tino Livramento was presented as the potential solution in June, but Newcastle's Champions League qualification stripped away the possibility of a cut-price deal and City instead opted to look for in-house fixes.
There is a certain irony in that, in the summer when the Blues finally signed a left-back, the problem position switched to the other flank. The rapid disintegration of Kyle Walker's game and the disappointing way his Etihad career ended left a void to be filled.
Rico Lewis had first dibs on the role, but the games against Wolves and Tottenham showed both his strengths and his flaws. Excellent on the ball when City are in command, he thrived at Molineux. A week later, his defensive issues were exposed by Spurs and his lack of physicality was a problem.
Lewis signed a new deal on Friday to keep him at the club for another five years, but he used the contract announcement to again stress he prefers to play in midfield. That is probably the case for Matheus Nunes as well.
But if Lewis, 20, might yet have a future in the centre of the pitch, Nunes has been told he doesn't. Signed from Wolves for £53million to play in a central role, he is now being reinvented as a right-back.
He came into the team against Brighton and struggled, giving away a penalty with a lapse in concentration and showing that the defensive nous required to play full-back may never come naturally to him.
That meant one of many questions heading into Sunday's clash with Manchester United at the Etihad was who Pep Guardiola would turn to now. When the wheel spun, it landed on another new option, with Lewis and Nunes on the bench.
Maybe the third time will prove to be a charm for Guardiola and City, because Abdukodir Khusanov produced a display that suggested he could have a future at right-back, at least in the short term.
The 21-year-old has now played three games at right-back for City, but his only experience in the role prior to moving to the Etihad from Lens in January was for Uzbekistan Under-21s in the AFC Under-21 Asian Cup in April 2024.
Long-term, he is seen as a centre-back with pace to burn, but that speed makes him an option on the flank as well, especially when he has to face a winger with a similar turn of foot. It could also be an advantage as City's defence gets accustomed to playing in front of a goalkeeper with a deeper starting position after the departure of Ederson and the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Guardiola referenced the speed of United's left wing-back Patrick Dorgu when explaining his rationale for selecting Khusanov at right-back and was pleased with his performance.
“We play every three days for the next 11 months, so Khusanov can’t play all games,” the City boss said. “But he’s young, so fast, and very clean in possession. Sometimes his energy leads to wrong decisions, but with time, he’ll improve. We keep on talking to him. He defended so well, shut down that side and stayed concentrated.”
One of those wrong decisions came when Khusanov raced back to try and get to Dorgu after Bruno Fernandes had played a pass in behind him. The full-back got there but clattered into his opposite number and conceded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area.
That enthusiasm might frustrate Guardiola every now and again, but it's also why he has become a fan favourite so quickly, as well as a popular figure in the dressing room.
Five weeks after joining the club, he produced a sterling performance away at Tottenham in a narrow 1-0 win and after that game, Guardiola told a story about why the unflappable youngster was so well-liked.
“What I like is that he is already incredible for the dressing room," he said. “Today he travelled without a toothbrush and his washbag. Nothing. Arrived here to play football.
“When you talk to him he just laughs, laughs, laughs all the time but he is a reliable player.
“So fast, so quick, quality with passes is extraordinary. He breaks the lines. He has the ability to do it. He has to improve but he’s 20.
“I’ve seen players with a lot of pace but he is one of them. People adore him. He is silent, no complaints and so humble and I’m sure our fans will love him."
The fans love him, and after his audition as a right-back, they might see a lot more of him.
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