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Welbeck sent to hospital after suffering horrific injury

  /  autty

The forward picked up a serious injury just short of the half-hour mark and was forced to leave the field on a stretcher

Arsenal suffered an injury blow during their Europa League tie against Sporting on Thursday as Danny Welbeck was forced to leave the pitch on a stretcher.

Welbeck, who scored the winning goal in the reverse fixture in Portugal, was replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 29th minute of the game.

The Arsenal forward was challenging Sporting full-back Bruno Gaspar for a header when their legs tangled and Welbeck landed awkwardly on his ankle.

Welbeck was quickly surrounded by his team-mates, with Matteo Guendouzi visibly shocked by the incident, before receiving oxygen and being carried from the pitch.

The Gunners went into the tie knowing that a victory would see them qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, joining Premier League rivals Chelsea.

Maurizio Sarri's side claimed a narrow 1-0 victory in Belarus earlier in the evening, with Olivier Giroud scoring the only goal of the game.