Two horrific injuries at AAMI Park could have major repercussions for the run-in to the A-League finals.
Incidents involving Adelaide United’s Craig Goodwin and Storm Roux, the Central Coast defender, had the crowd wincing and coaches fearful for their footballing futures.
On Friday night, Goodwin was left heavily concussed and with a cricket ball-sized bump on his forehead after crashing into the knee of Melbourne Victory defender Daniel Georgievski.
The winger was rampaging through Victory’s defence when Rashid Mahazi brought Goodwin down.
Despite Goodwin falling to ground level, Georgievski had already committed to the tackle and lunged in feet-first and dangerously on the 24-year-old.
Intent could be key on whether the Match Review Panel chooses to penalise Georgievski, leaving open the possibility of a lengthy ban.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said he would exonerate the Victory man despite the “horrendous injury”.
“I always look for the good in people,” he told Fox Sports.
“He started sliding in … I don’t think he could have pulled out.
“I don’t think he meant to hit him in the head, I think it was a pure accident.”
Victory – who lost to the Reds 1-0 – can ill afford any player unavailability as they look to revive their stuttering campaign.
Adelaide said the winger would report to training on Monday ahead of Saturday’s match with Brisbane Roar and will be assessed.
Sunday’s fixture saw another injury shocker with Storm Roux collapsing in agony after turning sharply on the AAMI Park turf in an attempt to block Ben Garuccio’s shot.
The score was 1-1 at the time and Central Coast manager Tony Walmsley said the incident, which saw Roux administered with pain relief on the pitch before being stretchered off, was key to Melbourne City roaring to a 4-1 win..
“He’s not in a good way … it’s lower leg and possibly shoulder as well,” he said.
“It doesn’t look good. It’s had an impact on some of our guys after the stoppage in play.”
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