Laurent Koscielny injury: Arsenal defender kicked in head by Romelu Lukaku

Arsenal‘s injury crisis shows no signing of stopping. As well as Sokratis Papastathopoulos painful looking ankle twist, Laurent Koscielny was forced off against in Friday night’s FA Cup clash against Manchester United.

The Frenchman, who was only on the pitch as a replacement for Sokratis, was on the receiving end of a boot to the face from Romelu Lukaku which drew blood.

Read more: Sokratis injury: Arsenal defender limps off vs Manchester United – but how long will he be out for?

Just before hour mark, the two men tangled when challening for the ball on the halfway line and, as Koscielny fell to the floor Lukaku’s heel came swinging round and caught him.

Koscielny was eventually replaced by Matteo Guendouzi after almost nine minutes of treatment.

Not deliberate

“Lukaku doesn’t know that Koscielny’s head is in the position that it is,” observed Jermaine Jenas on commentary. “He’s just trying to regain balance and catches him with his stud.”

Referee Craig Pawson appeared to agree, reviewing the incident via VAR and determining that it was not a deliberate act from the United forward.

Arsenal had fallen two goals behind following first-half strikes from Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard but had pulled the score back to 2-1 thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s tap-in at the back post.

With Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and now Sokratis facing spells on the sidelines, Arsenal boss Unai Emery will be desperately hoping Koscielny’s injury is not too serious.