Arsenal suffer injury hammer blow during Newcastle United clash as key player limps off

Arsenal have suffered a major injury blow during their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with Newcastle United. The Gunners went into the clash with a two-goal deficit, and the Magpies extended their lead after 19 minutes when Jacob Murphy tucked home a rebound.

That was just minutes after Martin Odegaard had hit the post for the Gunners, and 17 minutes before Arsenal suffered an injury blow that could have a major say on their Premier League title hopes.

Winger Gabriel Martinelli pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, holding the back of his leg. The Brazilian was able to walk off the pitch pretty normally, but he had to be replaced by Ethan Nwaneri, who has been in good form.

The injury did not look an overly severe one, but any sort of hamstring tweak is likely to cost a player two to three weeks, and Arsenal have three games before the international break, taking on Leicester City, West Ham and high-flyers Nottingham Forest.

Mikel Arteta will have big concerns because he has already lost Gabriel Jesus to injury for the whole season, while Bukayo Saka will miss another two months with a hamstring injury of his own. If Martinelli is to miss a few weeks, that Gunners front line would be left looking extremely thin.

Arteta was keen to sign a new attacker during the winter transfer window, but the club were not able to pull off a deal, with most options either being taken off the table or proving too expensive. Benjamin Sesko appears to be Arteta’s preferred option, but he won’t be available until the summer, and the same goes for Matheus Cunha, who signed a new Wolves contract. Striker Dusan Vlahovic was linked late in the window, but Arteta does not seem to be fully convinced. Ollie Watkins proved too tricky to sign in January, but he could resurface as an option in the summer.

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