Manchester City suffered a fresh injury blow in their 1-1 draw at West Ham United on Saturday as Sergio Aguero was withdrawn at halftime at the London Stadium.
The Argentine striker was replaced by Phil Foden, who grabbed City’s equaliser, and manager Pep Guardiola said later he had suffered a muscular injury, only a week after making his first start of the season following knee surgery.
“A hamstring I think, but tomorrow we will know exactly,” said Guardiola, whose side have managed eight points from their opening five games of the Premier League season.
It is City’s worst league start for six years, with injuries not helping.
Fernandinho was unavailable on Saturday after limping off in midweek against Porto, while Nathan Ake was another absentee and Kevin De Bruyne started on the bench. Aymeric Laporte returned to training in midweek but did not feature at West Ham. Until England midfielder Foden came on, City lacked urgency.
Guardiola looked frustrated at the end. “The reality is we had four of five guys with Covid. We didn’t have time for regeneration,” he said.
“Our striker (Gabriel Jesus) was injured in the first game. Sergio was out for four months. Kevin was injured. Gundogan came back from Covid. To play every three days you need the whole squad. To not have the whole squad is more difficult. I am not saying this is the reason why, I am just putting this on the table. It’s the reality.”
At Craven Cottage on Saturday, Wilfried Zaha helped Crystal Palace secure a 2-1 win over bottom side Fulham, with the winger scoring one goal and providing the assist for the other.
The victory was Palace’s first since their 3-1 win at Manchester United last month.
Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford scored a second-half hat-trick as they brought Aston Villa's 100 per cent start to the season to an abrupt end.
Other results
- Aston Villa 0 Leeds United 3
- Fulham 1 Crystal Palace 2