Ouch.
Chelsea may have comfortably underlined their superiority over Arsenal in the Far East, but their supporters were furious after witnessing one of the worse challenges you’re likely to see in a friendly game – or any game for that matter.
The two London giants came up against each other in the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing on Saturday, as the showcase event of their China visit, and the game was certainly played in a gung-ho competitive manner.
Despite the heat and humidity, both teams kept the tempo high and their challenges full-blooded. But David Ospina’s challenge on Chelsea’s Pedro was beyond anything you’d expect in a game of football.
Ospina on Pedro. 🙈 pic.twitter.com/CLjOvzrFP8
— Arsenal FC News (@ArsenalFC_fl) July 22, 2017
Arsenal’s keeper came charging out of his six-yard box, and clattered into the former Barcelona man with his full force. The velocity at which he was travelling meant that Pedro took a brutal knock and a stretcher had to come on.
After some initial medical support to check that he was okay and fully conscious, it was decided that he be taken off to undertake precautionary examination. It was more clumsy than vicious from Ospina, but that didn’t help the bloodied Chelsea man much.
As you see below, Blues’ fans everywhere were not best pleased.
https://twitter.com/akinolarj/status/888734244532629504
https://twitter.com/akinolarj/status/888739439396225025
Ospina's Elbow, chest and thigh hits Pedro in one motion but somehow it's the Chelsea player's foul! pic.twitter.com/kcQ4wE2n6m
— Sripad (@falsewinger) July 22, 2017
Ospina batters Pedro to the ground, but the foul is given against our winger. What a joke. Glad he seems to be OK.
— Chels HQ (@Chels_HQ) July 22, 2017
Or maybe not, the stretcher is on the pitch.
— Chels HQ (@Chels_HQ) July 22, 2017
I'm missing the game but judging by my timeline it would appear that Ospina has killed Pedro. Jens Lehmann working his magic already.
— FK (@fkhanage) July 22, 2017
Still, the bit when Ospina double-punched Pedro was fun.
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) July 22, 2017
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