It was a fabulous Saturday for Arsenal in all but one respect. Goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil in the first half gave the Gunners a comfortable win. The Gunners beat Chelsea 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium, but the first half was blighted by an injury to Francis Coquelin.
Arsenal fear Francis Coquelin could be ruled out for weeks after suffering a knee injury in the first half when the Frenchman had a nasty collision of knees with N’Golo Kante and fell to the ground a few minutes later.
The combative midfielder had kept his place in the starting line-up despite the emergence of summer signing Granit Xhaka but lasted only 32 minutes against the Blues before he was replaced by the Switzerland international.
Coquelin missed three months of last season after he suffered a similar injury against West Brom and Wenger is concerned he may have to do without the 25-year-old for the foreseeable future.
Coquelin’s latest setback is a blow to Arsenal’s ambitions – though perhaps not as big as it might have been in seasons past.
Wenger when asked about the injury in his post-match conference said:
Coquelin has a knee injury in the same place he suffered one against West Brom last year.
We don’t know if the damage is as big. We have to wait for 48 hours, but he left the stadium in a brace, so that’s the one negative. I am a bit worried for that.
Given Arsenal’s tendency to suffer multiple injuries each season, it’s still important they have as many of their best players available as possible as they battle on four fronts, but in this case, Wenger’s dealings in the transfer market have left them capable of dealing with Coquelin’s absence.
Hope he gets back on the pitch as soon as possible. We wish him a quick recovery.
