Thomas Partey’s injury is “a big concern” for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta after they suffered a 3-0 Premier League defeat against Crystal Palace on Monday night.
The 28-year-old Ghana international did not have a good game and he finally limped off in the second half after picking up an injury. Partey, who had already been booked, was replaced by midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga in the 75th minute.
By the time the Black Star was withdrawn, Arsenal were already trailing 3-0 at Selhurst Park Stadium with goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ghana international Jordan Ayew, and Ivory Coast winger Wilfried Zaha, who had converted from the penalty spot.
Speaking after the game, Arteta said as quoted by the Arsenal website: “I don’t know, but he [Partey] felt something in the same area that he got injured previously, so it’s a big concern.”
“It’s what we have, it’s the numbers that we have. We’ve lost Kieran [Tierney] and we’ve lost Thomas now and that’s it.
"With the players that we have we will keep trying like we have since the start of the season, but we never had a big squad so we can’t find any excuses.
“Today we have to look at ourselves and I’m the first one because I repeat myself, it wasn’t good enough.”
Arteta has further admitted Arsenal were not at their best, especially in the first half.
“Yes, especially in the first half, but first of all, congratulations to Crystal Palace for winning the match and the way that they performed, but we weren’t at the races today, especially in the first half,” Arteta continued.
“We were late to every ball, we were soft in the duels and we didn’t earn the right to play, and when we did a little bit we were sloppy on the ball. We didn’t have any dominance or sequences of play when we could take control of the game and we conceded two poor goals as well, so overall it’s unacceptable.
“We need to put our hands up, apologies, regroup, and tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity to prepare for the game against Brighton.”
Partey’s injury could be a huge blow for the Gunners, who are fighting to clinch a Champions League slot at the end of the season. He has so far in this campaign scored two goals in the top-flight after making 24 appearances.
The defeat against Palace left Arsenal fifth on the table with 54 points from 29 matches and they will next host Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.