Romelu Lukaku was stretchered off after a clash of heads as Manchester United drew 0-0 with Southampton on Saturday.
Lukaku crashed into Southampton’s Wesley Hoedt as the pair contested an aerial challenge early in the first half at Old Trafford.
The Belgian striker lay prone on the pitch barely moving while he was treated by medical staff for five minutes.
Photo: AFP
Lukaku remained conscious and was eventually carried off wearing an oxygen mask.
The injury continued a difficult period for Lukaku, who has scored only four times in his past 19 appearances.
In the absence of Lukaku, Jose Mourinho’s men were unable to break down Southampton and had to settle for their third successive league draw.
Photo: Reuters
United ended a frustrating month trailing 14 points behind leaders Manchester City.
“When you see a player leave the pitch like he did, it is usually two games at least,” Mourinho said of Lukaku. “We missed easy chances, but I’m really unhappy because we should have had a penalty.”
LIVERPOOL 2, LEICESTER CITY 1
Liverpool on Saturday celebrated Virgil van Dijk’s arrival at Anfield by coming from behind to beat Leicester City 2-1 thanks to Mohamed Salah’s brace.
Van Dijk, signed from Southampton for a world record fee for a defender, is not able to play for Liverpool until this month, but the flaws the Dutch centerback will be asked to fix were on display as Leicester took a third minute lead.
With Van Dijk watching, Joel Matip carelessly conceded possession and Riyad Mahrez set up Jamie Vardy to slot past goalkeeper Loris Karius for his 10th of the season.
Liverpool leveled seven minutes after the interval. Egypt winger Salah took Sadio Mane’s brilliant pass and showed good footwork before drilling past Kasper Schmeichel for his 22nd club goal of an incredible debut season following his move from Roma.
Salah then won it for Liverpool in the 76th minute, turning away from Leicester defender Harry Maguire and firing it in.
Liverpool, unbeaten in 12 league games, remain fourth and now hold a four-point advantage over Tottenham Hotspur in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
“It is a maximum satisfaction to win like this. Today was pretty much perfect,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said. “When we were one goal down our reaction was the best I’ve ever seen in this situation. Mo was fantastic with his dribbling and his vision. I couldn’t ask more from him.”
CHELSEA 5, STOKE CITY 0
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea climbed above United into second place after shutting out Stoke City 5-0.
Antonio Conte’s side made a perfect start when German defender Antonio Rudiger headed home from Willian’s free-kick in the third minute.
Eden Hazard was rested, but his replacement Danny Drinkwater did a passable impression of the brilliant Belgian, the midfielder bagging his first goal for the Blues with a blistering strike in the ninth minute.
Stoke were three down by the 23rd minute when Pedro finished off Willian’s pass to put Chelsea on course for a fourth win in five league games.
Willian stroked home a penalty in the 73rd minute, before wing-back Davide Zappacosta grabbed his first Premier League goal with two minutes remaining.
“Every win is important for us. Today it was important to get three points to continue our positive run,” Conte said.
In Saturday’s other games, it was:
‧ Swansea City 2, Watford 1
‧ Huddersfield 0, Burnley 0
‧ Bournemouth 2, Everton 1
‧ Newcastle 0, Brighton 0
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB