Arsenal defender calls for research another Gunners suffer further injury woe

Arsenal defender Rafaelle Souza has claimed the packed schedule of women’s football must be looked into after fears that a FOURTH Gunners player has suffered an ACL tear in their loss to Wolfsburg.

A memorable night for women’s football ended in heartbreaking fashion for Arsenal after they crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the semi-final stage after a 119th minute goal from Pauline Bremer handed German giants Wolfsburg a 5-4 aggregate win.

Over 60,000 fans had packed out the Emirates to see goals from Stina Blackstenius and Jen Beattie force the game into extra time though Wolfsburg’s last gasp winner combined with yet another serious looking injury - this time for Laura Wienroither - meant the evening ended on a sour note for the hosts.

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Arsenal, who have already lost Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Leah Williamson to anterior ligament injuries saw the Austrian full back fall awkwardly late in the game and looked in severe pain which prompted immediate fears that she has suffered the same fate and team mate Rafaelle Souza has called for further research into the worrying trend of ACL injurie’s in women’s football.

“It’s hard to say right now (why so many injuries are happening) but I feel like there’s so many games we are playing” said the Brazilian.

“We have to take a look and see if it’s the right thing to do, maybe have fewer games or a more extended schedule. We have to look into it. It’s really upsetting and we are not happy with everything that is happening this season, though I think that the players coming in are doing a good job and we got to the semi-finals - we have to be proud of it.

The break in schedule won’t come anytime soon for the North London side with their final five league games taking place over just 22 days, though the defender has backed the team to cement a top three finish and Champions League qualification for another season.

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“I’m really proud to be here. I feel like the crowd gave us so much energy. We are really thankful for all the fans that came out today” she said.

“We have a really hard job now with the league but we are looking forward to it. I think we have a really good team, we just need to get the heads up for these next games. It’s a different competition.

“We are proud with the effort everybody put in today but we need to do it again for the next game. We are really sad that Laura got injured today. I think this is main thing for us, that another player is going to be missing but I feel like this (the game) is going to give us energy and we’re going to build it up so we can do it for us and for the players that are injured.”

Arsenal face Leicester City this coming Friday before heading to Brighton on May 10 and require maximum points in order to keep pace with the league top three.

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Tune in our dedicated Women’s Football podcast with Susanna and Graham aswe consider what Sarina Wiegman will do without Euros winning captain Leah Williamson; whether there’s a place for Steph Houghton this summer and answer your questions! Watch here.