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Premier League star rushed to hospital after 'sickening' incident

Chris Young
·Sports Reporter
·4-min read
Both Wolves and Arsenal players were concerned after a clash of heads between David Luiz and Raul Jimenez left the later unconscious on the ground. (Photo by JOHN WALTON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Both Wolves and Arsenal players were concerned after a clash of heads between David Luiz and Raul Jimenez left the later unconscious on the ground. (Photo by JOHN WALTON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

English Premier League fans were left shocked by the sight of Wolverhampton Wolves star Raul Jimemez being stretchered from the field after a horrific clash of heads against an Arsenal rival.

Jimenez was knocked out after knocking heads with Arsenal opponent David Luiz when both rose to contest a Wolves corner kick just minutes into their game overnight.

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While Luiz was able to get up, it took more than 10 minutes for medical staff to get Jimenez on a stretcher amid serious concerns for the Mexican international’s health.

Jimenez was taken to hospital after the shocking accident but Luiz was allowed to play on, albeit sporting heavy bandaging on his head after copping a cut when he clashed with Jimenez.

Questions were raised as to why Luiz was allowed to continue playing after such a substantial head knock, however he sat out the second half of the match.

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta defended the decision to play Luiz after the game, insisting he had passed all of the required concussion protocols.

“David is OK. He has a nasty cut and he was conscious,” he told Sky Sports.

““They did all the tests for him, he was completely fine, but he wasn’t comfortable playing with that.”

“First of all, the doc has to check, there’s a protocol, they have to check he hasn’t lost any consciousness, which he didn’t.

“They have some tests they have to do before putting him on the pitch, then David was just concerned about the cut, nothing else.

Arsenal's David Luiz was allowed to remain on the field despite a heavy cut sustained when he clashed heads with Wolverhampton's Raul Jimenez. (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)
Arsenal's David Luiz was allowed to remain on the field despite a heavy cut sustained when he clashed heads with Wolverhampton's Raul Jimenez. (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

“They will continue to do some checks, obviously, in the next few hours, but he was fine.”

“He was very uncomfortable, he could not really head the ball and obviously a central defender that cannot head the ball cannot continue playing football.”

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The decision to allow Luiz to play on earned plenty of criticism, with former EPL star and BBC commentator Alan Shearer saying the league needs to ‘get serious’ about concussions.

“Football needs to get real. It needs to wake up. It needs to get serious,” Shearer said.

“Not next year, not next month, not next week - now.”

Criticism of the move also flowed on social media, with many questioning the wisdom of playing someone with a heavy cut to their head.

Wolves meanwhile moved into the top six with a 2-1 away win over Arsenal, who dropped to 14th in the standings.

Pedro Neto opened the scoring for Wolves in the 27th minute before Gabriel equalised three minutes later.

Daniel Podence then grabbed the winner for Wolves in the 42nd minute.

With AAP

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