Mar
1
That one is for the horror-books. Arsenal have been no strangers to terrible injuries over the last few years, most notably Eduardo’s leg-break last term, but the challenge by Stoke defender Ryan Showcross on teenager Aaron Ramsey ranks up there with the very worst of them.
The incident happened at Arsenal’s away game to Stoke, which they managed to win 3-1 with two late goals at the end. It is a result that keeps them only three points off the top place, but undoubtedly the team’s thoughts will be with Ramsey, who suffered a broken leg after Showcross tackled him in the 2nd half. The challenge itself doesn’t look so serious at first glance, but when you see the way the Arsenal player’s leg is twisted when he’s lying on the floor, you realize something is very wrong.
The challenge sparked outrage amongst the Arsenal players, but Showcross had no complaints over his straight red card. He was even in tears at what he had done, and I don’t think he can be blamed for any malicious intent. Stoke have made their reputation as a hard yet fair team, and things like this unfortunately are bound to happen every now and then.
It will come as little consolation to Arsene Wenger, though, who just cannot get rid of this injury curse it seems. The only thing he can hope for is Ramsey to make a full recovery and maybe come back before the end of the year, much like Eduardo managed to do.