Man Utd’s Eric Bailly rushed to hospital after being carried off in neck brace and given oxygen in worrying head clash
ERIC BAILLY was rushed to hospital after being carried away in a neck brace and given oxygen as he suffered two blows to the head against Chelsea.
The Manchester United star, 26, first bumped heads with Chelsea's Kurt Zouma with 39 minutes on the clock after they challenged for the ball in the FA Cup semi-final.
After recovering relatively unscathed, Bailly then worried medical staff with ANOTHER hit just four minutes later at Wembley.
With 43 minutes gone, Bailly smacked into his own team-mate, Harry Maguire, as both players challenged for the same ball.
Captain Maguire was left with blood on his face and was eventually bandaged up.
But the Ivorian came off much worse suffering a possible concussion.
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During an eight-minute delay, Bailly attempted to get back on his feet and trudge off towards the dressing room, with a bloody wound on the back of his head.
But moments later he was back on the floor again, with United medics taking no chances.
The centre-back was placed on a stretcher, given oxygen and taken off in a neck brace.
The first-half whistle finally blew after 13 extra minutes following the lengthy delay.
And United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed Bailly was later taken to hospital for tests.
The Norwegian said: "He is in hospital going through all the routine checks and protocols.
"He got a cut in the back of his head as well, I haven’t heard, I've not spoken to the doctor about it yet."
Solskjaer changed his system when forced to replace Bailly, with attacker Anthony Martial taking his place.
And they went on to concede the first goal of the game in the ELEVENTH minute of injury time at the end of the first period when David de Gea let Olivier Giroud's near-post poke squeeze past him.
That was the first of three defensive blunders that cost United as Chelsea won 3-1 to earn a final showdown with Arsenal.
And Solskjaer insisted Bailly's injury had proved to be a turning point.
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He added: “It had a big impact on the game, Eric played well and we conceded just after the restart and that was very disappointing.
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"Eric was a big part of us not having any chances against us, really.
“Obviously the long lay-off was a big test and we didn’t pass it, because we lost our concentration and conceded a goal before half-time, which is disappointing.”