Paris Saint-Germain talisman Neymar has sustained a fresh injury to his right metatarsal, the club said yesterday, marring the titleholders’ advance to the last 16 of the Coupe de France following a 2-0 victory over RC Strasbourg.
A fractured metatarsal curtailed the Brazilian last season and the recurrence came just three weeks ahead of the first leg of PSG’s crunch UEFA Champions League clash against Manchester United.
The severity of the new injury is not yet known, although Neymar was able to walk off the field unsupported.
Photo: AFP
“Initial tests carried out revealed a painful reactivation of the injury to the fifth metatarsal,” the club said in statement.
“The treatment will depend on progress over the coming days,” it said, adding that all medical options would be considered.
Neymar initially tried to continue playing, but he covered his eyes — in tears, according to witnesses — as he was forced off to be replaced by Moussa Diaby just after the hour mark.
His early departure was a worrying moment for PSG, with the world’s most expensive player having missed the final three months of last season after breaking the same bone.
Each season, PSG, who dominate Ligue 1, are judged according to its Champions League results.
“The doctor is worried, Ney is worried, because it is the same foot, the same place,” PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said. “It was a situation where he was fouled three times, one after the other. The referee didn’t give anything. He twisted his foot.”
The PSG coach was also unhappy with suggestions from the Strasbourg players and coach that Neymar had provoked the injury by winding up his opponents.
“It’s Neymar’s style, but don’t come and complain when you get kicked,” Strasbourg’s Anthony Goncalves told Eurosport. “He is a great player, I respect him. He can enjoy himself, but don’t come blubbering afterwards.”
Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria got the goals on a bitterly cold night at the Parc des Princes.
Tuchel had left out ill Kylian Mbappe for this game, with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting handed a rare start in place of the superstar France forward.
The Cameroon international set up Cavani for the fourth-minute opener, before Di Maria — who had earlier hit the post — finished into the roof of the net 10 minutes from time as PSG remain on track to win the Coupe de France for the fifth season running.
Before kickoff, fans applauded and chanted the name of Emiliano Sala, the former Nantes striker who is feared dead after the airplane he was traveling in disappeared over the Channel Islands on Monday as he was on his way to join his new club, Cardiff City.
Nantes’ own Coupe de France tie away at third-tier Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien has been postponed until Sunday, with their players still in shock over Sala’s disappearance.
Elsewhere, Stade Malherbe Caen ended the run of plucky sixth-tier amateurs ES Viry-Chatillon in a 6-0 rout, with Yacine Bammou setting the Ligue 1 club on their way.
An emotional Bammou raised his hands toward the sky after his early goal, in tribute to Sala, with whom he played at Nantes last season.
Bammou had made clear his desire to be involved, despite the tragic turn of events, Caen coach Fabien Mercadal said.
A group of Caen supporters, for whom Sala spent the second half of the 2014-2015 season on loan, also fastened a banner that read “Emiliano” to a fence surrounding the pitch.
Naim Sliti scored a hat-trick as relegation-threatened Dijon FCO claimed a stunning 6-3 win away at AS Saint-Etienne for their first victory under new coach Antoine Kombouare, while Stade Rennais overcame fourth-division Saint-Pryve Saint-Hilaire 2-0.
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