Phil Foden was arguably Manchester City’s best player in their 2-0 win against Huddersfield Town but Pep Guardiola reserved special praise for one of his teammates.
Divine Mukasa was given a start by the Manchester City boss in the Carabao Cup and Sky Blues fans worldwide would have been keen to see how he fares.
As Foden opened the scoring against Huddersfield, it was Mukasa who laid the ball off perfectly for him to rifle into the bottom corner.
The 18-year-old was not the only player who impressed, as Nico Gonzalez was praised by Pep Guardiola after he cruised in the defensive midfield role.
However, the teenager perhaps had the toughest job of all as he was deployed as a false nine, despite being an attacking midfielder by trade.
Pep Guardiola praises Divine Mukasa after Huddersfield vs Man City
Mukasa revealed he idolises Kevin De Bruyne but against Huddersfield, Pep Guardiola trusted him to lead the line for Manchester City.
The Englishman cut an isolated figure at times but the highly-rated youngster did well to take up different areas of the pitch to create space for his teammates while coming close to scoring a few times and showing his quick feet.
Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Mukasa’s display while speaking to BBC 5 Live Sport after the contest, saying: “Divine played unbelievable, he’s an incredibly top player in the pockets, in the striker [position], has a good sense.”
“He had two or three chances to score.”
Guardiola continued to laud the former West Ham United wonderkid, saying: “Divine is top, top.”
“He has a sense of touch, quality with the ball, and he fought a lot. He played really good!”
Divine Mukasa stats during Huddersfield vs Man City
Mukasa must be over the moon after hearing Pep Guardiola sing his praises after he made his first start for Manchester City against Huddersfield.
The young midfielder’s stats show that he was unafraid to impose himself on proceedings.
| DIVINE MUKASA STATS VS HUDDERSFIELD | |
| ASSISTS | 1 |
| SHOTS | 6 |
| PASSES INTO THE FINAL THIRD | 4 |
| DUELS WON | 3 |
| CHANCES CREATED | 1 |
| TOUCHES | 45 |
Mukasa grabbed an assist, played four passes into the final third, won four duels and created one chance while taking just 45 touches.
Haaland was unavailable against Huddersfield and in case he is not deemed ready to start against Burnley, taking Omar Marmoush’s injury into account, perhaps Mukasa could be in line to play from the off.
