Arsenal star Per Mertesacker covered in blood after being elbowed in face by Chelsea defender Gary Cahill
The Gunners skipper and the Blues centre-back went up for an aerial challenge, with the German taking a huge whack
PER MERTESACKER was forced to come off through a horrific facial injury after being left covered in blood following an elbow from Gary Cahill.
The Gunners centre-back and Chelsea defender both challenged for a ball in the Arsenal box, with the German immediately requiring treatment.
There was no chance the 32-year-old could carry on in the Community Shield clash after losing a considerable amount of blood in such a short time.
Arsenal physio Colin Lewin rushed onto the pitch in an to attempt to stop the bleeding, as well as checking whether the World Cup winner was suffering from concussion.
Sead Kolasinac – a summer signing from Schalke, replaced his team-mate for his debut for the club.
The injury comes as a huge blow for Arsene Wenger as he could lose a key player for a spell on the sidelines before the Premier League season has even begun.
Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel were not included in the matchday squad for Arsenal, leaving two left-back’s filling in as centre-back’s for the North Londoners.
Full-back Nacho Monreal and Rob Holding started alongside Mertesacker in the line-up at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Calum Chambers was yet again not even among the substitutes for Arsenal, leaving Wenger with a mini-crisis in defence.
He continues to be linked with a move to Crystal Palace, with the FA Cup champions holding out for £20m after knocking back an offer of £16million.
Arsenal and Chelsea went into the break on level terms, with Alexandre Lacazette coming the closest of breaking the deadlock.
His curling effort from outside the post struck the right-hand past with Thibaut Courtois beaten all ends up.