Injuries like the one Andre Gomes suffered in Everton’s home draw to Spurs on Sunday evening rocked the footballing world nearly as much as it rocked the Portuguese midfielder.
After undergoing surgery, fortunately the midfielder is set to make a full recovery on the fracture dislocation to his right ankle. The injury occurred after an initial tackle from Spurs midfielder Heung Min Son and a collision with the on-rushing Serge Aurier. Despite the severity of the injury, Son was unlucky to be given his marching orders for his involvement in the incident, which looked set to be a yellow card before the extent of the injury swayed referee Martin Atkinson into changing his mind.
Fans from all over took to Twitter to wish the midfielder a speedy recovery and also sent their support for Son who was inconsolable after the incident. Nobody likes to see scenes like these at a football game, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen such a gruesome injury happen in the Premier League, and probably won’t be the last.
Luc Nilis – 2000
Luc Nilis was a huge signing and a massively talented player who suffered through every footballer’s worst nightmare. In just his third game for Aston Villa a collision with Richard Wright led to a double fracture leg injury. Nilis was rushed to surgery where there were fears that the leg would have to be amputated after infection set in. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, Nilis could never get back up to full fitness and retired from football all together shortly after.
David Busst (1996)
When an injury makes a man like Peter Schmeichel bring up his breakfast right on the pitch you know it’s a bad one. After colliding with Denis Irwin, Busst suffered a compound double leg fracture. If you are unsure as to what compound fracture means, it is when the broken pieces of bone actually pierce through the skin – which is why this injury goes down as one of the Premier League’s worst ever injuries. In later years Busst still praises doctors for managing to save his leg after there were fears it would have to be amputated.
Alf-Inge Haaland (2001)
Whilst Son was extremely apologetic – to the point that he was in floods of tears at the Gomes incident – the same couldn’t be said for Roy Keane’s challenge on Haaland. Although not a leg breaker, the serious knee injury he suffered in what appeared to be an obvious revenge tackle by the Manchester United midfielder was attributed to Haaland’s early retirement. His son, Erling Haaland is currently banging in goals for Red Bull Salzburg and is heavily linked with a move to Manchester United who are in desperate need of a goal scorer – could this dark moment in history end up souring the deal?
Djibril Cisse (2004)
Cisse’s Liverpool career had barely begun before he suffered his first major leg break of his career. After just 19 matches for the reds, a tangle with Blackburn Rovers’ Jay McEveley caused a leg break that is burned into the retinas of every fan who saw it that day.
The incident wasn’t malicious, more unfortunate as Cisse’s boots were caught in the turf and the momentum of the oncoming challenge caught his calf bone, eliciting a scream heard by viewers at home and left Cisse’s leg dangling at a gruesome angle.
Thanks to quick actions from the physios at the time Cisse was lucky to keep his leg altogether. As further testament to the physios and medical staff at the club at the time he recovered in record time to feature against Juventus in April 2005 in the Champions League.
