Gabriel Jesus reacts to Manchester City debut, offside goal, mother's advice

Saturday was a night to remember for young Gabriel Jesus. The 19-year-old Brazilian made his Manchester City debut coming on as a substitute in the final ten minutes, and the kid had an amazing impact. With his first three touches, he nearly got an assist, almost scored a great header and had the game-winning goal disallowed for offside.

Things didn't go his way in the end, but City fans were very excited about his first game as a Citizens. And it's safe to say Jesus is very happy too, though he did want a victory:

"I'm very happy to have the opportunity to debut here in City's home, I'm happy, not too happy with the draw, because the game was in our hands, but congratulations to the team. It was a good game, Tottenham is a good team, now that I'm here I can see that anything can happen in 90 minutes in this league."

Source: ESPN Brazil

Jesus was also asked about the first few weeks at a new city and a new club, and he's loving it:

“It is good. The squad is amazing. My colleagues and the whole club welcomed me very well. It plays a key part in my work. With everybody's support I am adapting quickly to my new life."

Source: ManCity.com

Coming from the Brazilian league right into the Premier League without any experience in Europe isn't easy, but Jesus looked good for the limited amount of time he had. Still, he's clearly felt the difference and knows he needs to work hard to get used to playing at a higher pace in England:

"The speed of the game is very different from Brazil, so I have to adapt as soon as possible to do well in all the games that I have the opportunity to play. It was cold but I can handle it, it's all about adapting, I've been here for three weeks and now it's about adapting as quickly as possible.

“I could see the difference from the Brazilian football even playing few minutes, but I have to adapt as quick as possible. I have been here for three weeks and I came here to help and be helped as well.”

Talking about the game, Gabriel was very thankful to Pep Guardiola for giving him the chance to play, and he's clearly frustrated with the offside call, but himself, not the referee:

"Guardiola's trust is very important to me, to all the players, to have the trust from your teammates, your coach, the coaching staff, this is very important and it made me very calm. I came on, unfortunately I was offside, I got up to celebrate and I noticed the crowd was silent, and I got pissed off and kicked the corner flag. But it happens, I was one step in front and unfortunately I couldn't score.

"I thought I was onside. But I quickly realized that the fans were not celebrating afterwards. That is why I kicked the corner flag angry with myself for being one step ahead."

You know someone who is also angry at Jesus for being offside? His mother, Vera Lucia, who became known in Brazil for never being happy with his son's games, focusing on his mistakes and helping him get better in the only way a mother can do:

“With no shadow of a doubt she will complain about me being offside!”

Now that his debut is out of the way and was a very exciting one, Gabriel is already looking forward to what's coming next:

"When I came on I wasn't anxious or anything, I was just thinking about doing what I love, which is playing football and realizing a dream to play in one of the biggest leagues in the world, the Premier League. I was very happy that Pep called me and I was just thinking about helping the team in some way. I had an opportunity with a header, unfortunately I missed it, and then the offside goal. It happens, now it's about working hard because there's always the next game."

Jesus is awesome.