Arsenal go through but suffer Torreira injury blow
Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of midfielder Lucas Torreira, who picked up an injury in the win at Portsmouth on Monday night.
The Gunners are through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup following a 2-0 win over Pompey at Fratton Park, but the victory came at a cost as Torreira was taken off injured on a stretcher just 17 minutes into the game.
The Uruguay international left Fratton Park on crutches with Arteta admitting that the player had his leg in a brace and was in a lot of pain.
Arteta says the player will be assessed in the next few days to discover the full extent of the damage as they are not sure whether it is bone or ligament damage.
Meanwhile, Arteta admits he took a risk making nine changes for the FA Cup win at Portsmouth but claims he was left with no choice as some of his players were struggling.
The Gunners secured safe passage into the last eight on the south coast as Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nketiah provided the goals.
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It was a good response from Arteta’s side, who dropped out of Europe following a last-gasp defeat to Olympiacos on Thursday.
While the Spaniard conceded making wholesale alterations put Arsenal’s only chance of silverware this season in jeopardy, he believed he was left with no alternative as only David Luiz and Bukayo Saka retained their places in the side.
“They fully deserve the chance and I know it is risky to play them in this competition but they are worth a risk,” the Arsenal boss said of the players who came into his side.
“I assessed the team and physically some of them were knackered, some of them had issues, some of them mentally were hanging on what happened that day.”
Arteta went on to praise the ‘energy, the focus and the willingness’ of his much-changed side to get the result they needed and was delight to leave with the win.
