Arsenal star Sokratis Papastathopoulos twisted his ankle in a jump to get the ball off of Jesse Lingard and had to be subbed off, as the Gunners faced off against Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Emirates. The game was crucial for both sides with regards to their campaign, as it would possibly decide their fate in the business end of the season.
The Same Old Story Of Arsenal FC With Regards To Sokratis And What Happened In This Match
The former Borussia Dortmund defender has been quite solid in recent games and was doing his job, till the hurt his ankle, when he landed awkwardly trying to win the ball. Due to his, he was in quite some pain and eventually had to go off and was replaced by Mustafi. Though it did not look to be more than a muscle injury, any further update might be given once the tests are done and the player could possibly fit quite soon, depending on the extent of this injury that he has now suffered.
Once the replacement came on, a game that was 0-0 saw the home side go down by a couple of goals in the matter of a few minutes. It was already 2-0 and Alexis Sanchez, who was being booed right through the first half, had already scored on his return to his former home.
Lukaku was the surprise play-maker on the left-hand-side and the defence looked out of shape, which was rather surprising. They were being hit on counter-attacks and neither Kolasnic, Koscielny nor Mustafi had the pace to cope with them. The only defender that did had gone off injured.
The score read 1-2 at half-time. The game can still be turned on its head. That was dependent on what happened in the next half of the match. However, Emery must be aware of the fact that Solskjaer still had Rashford and Martial on the bench. He will have to urge his team to react quickly. If they can do that, then things can be rather turned around quickly.
When Will The Fortunes Change For The Gunners; Will Luck Ever Be On Their Side?
On the other hand, both the manager and the fans will now be hoping that Sokratis is not seriously injured. It fortunately looks to be the case this time. He can possibly make his return to the squad soon. After the game against Cardiff City that is coming up, the Londoners will be making the trip to the Etihad in the Premier League. They will be facing off against Manchester City.
For that fixture, it is essential that the entire defensive line is fit. With Rob Holding already missing and Arsenal needing all the players that they can get. Hopefully the north London side can now pull off something special. They will want to book their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
It will be interesting to see how this game develops. There is no doubt that the Spaniard is missing the Greek, at the centre of his back-line already. No matter how special a performance Mustafi puts in now, he will still not be able to display the defensive quality that Sokratis has shown. That is, since his move to England.
