Seamus Coleman suffered a terrible-looking injury to his right leg in the first half of Everton's vital relegation 6-pointer against Leicester. Coleman was going for the ball just before half time, when Boubakary Soumaré of Leicester bundled into him. Clumsy is a polite way to describe the tackle. Coleman's right leg buckled, and many fans were left fearing the worst. The Leicester midfielder received a yellow card for the challenge.
The injury caused play to be delayed for almost 10 minutes and was a grim reminder for Ireland fans of the shocking tackle on the Ireland captain by Neil Taylor against Wales at the Aviva in 2017. The tackle occurred on the same right leg that Taylor broke in two places that night.
A stretcher had to be deployed to carry Coleman from the pitch. In a five-second sequence that perfectly summed up Coleman's genius and selflessness as a leader, he accepted Soumare's good wishes, rose from the stretcher to energise the away support and encouraged his own players.
Seamus Coleman riles up the crowd from the stretcher
Seamus Coleman suffered an awful looking injury against Leicester tonight and had to be stretchered off the pitch.
Was he trying to urge his team and supporters on from the stretcher? Of course he was.pic.twitter.com/e3EXdFqyEU— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 1, 2023
Our favourite moment is Dwight McNeill leaning in for a handshake of consolation only to receive a 'come on' and some clapping from his captain.
It's far to early to speculate about where this injury leaves Coleman, who's aged 34. It would certainly seem to jeopardise his involvement for the rest of the season, and Ireland's Euro 2024 qualifiers in June. It's such a pity because it's been one of Coleman's best seasons. He's scored tremendous goals and schooled the England captain. He deserved better.
It looks like a devastating injury for the Killybegs man; it most certainly is for spirited but flaky Everton, who are staring relegation straight in the face. Everton's woeful dip in form over the last three matches coincided with Coleman's absence from the lineup with a hamstring issue. Coleman's inspirational leadership was just enough to keep Everton afloat last year in the face of Frank Lampard's stewardship.
His return to the Everton XI had inspired Sean Dyche into thinking Everton had a chance of staying up.
He's a very important player with his history and understanding of the club
He has been a loss for us so we do look forward to him being back.
Everton needed a shambolic James Maddison penalty miss and an Alex Iwobi goal to level things. It finished 2-2. Everton stay in 19th place and will likely face the final four fixtures of the season without their captain.
