ARSENAL suffered a major injury crisis at West Ham as caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg lost THREE players at the London Stadium.
Hector Bellerin was selected to start but pulled up in the warm-up, Kieran Tierney suffered a shoulder injury and Granit Xhaka appeared to get concussed.
Kieran Tierney was one of THREE Arsenal players injured at West HamCredit: AP:Associated Press
Arsenal face two crucial games in the next week.
The Gunners welcome Standard Liege on Thursday and Man City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Spanish right-back Bellerin had been a doubt before kick-off, but Swedish caretaker Ljungberg opted to start him.
But it came at a cost with the 24-year-old suffering a hamstring injury in the warm-up and having to be replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Sead Kolasinac was a late addition to the bench and was soon thrust into action.
Scottish left-back Kieran Tierney fell heavily just 30 minutes into the game and looked in a lot of pain.
Hector Bellerin hurt his hamstring in the warm-up and was taken out of the starting XICredit: AFP or licensors
After a lengthy stoppage, Tierney eventually left the pitch on his feet – but with his arm in a makeshift sling.
Tierney has suffered an unknown injury to his shoulder, with Ljungberg confirming late on that he was taken to hospital for further testing.
The final blow for Ljungberg came with just ten minutes to play.
Stripped skipper Granit Xhaka took a blow to the head and was forced off.
He carried on playing after initially going down, but it was soon clear that he was in no fit state to continue.
There has been no official word on whether the Swiss midfielder was concussed – if he was, then Football Association protocol means he will not be allowed to play for at least seven days.
Caretaker boss Ljungberg said about Bellerin: “Hector had a feeling in his hamstring during the warm-up and we took the decision.
Granit Xhaka appeared to suffer a concussion as he was taken off after getting a ball in the headCredit: Reuters
“Not going to force anyone to play if they don’t feel 100 per cent.”
With Tierney he said he “doesn’t know exactly what that is” and there was no comment post-match on Xhaka.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
