Kone forced to withdraw from Roma vs. Midtjylland after ankle blow

In a worrying turn of events for Roma and head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, star midfielder Manu Kone was forced off injured during the first half of Thursday evening’s Europa League tie against Midtjylland at the Stadio Olimpico. 

You can follow the action from all of the day’s Europa League and Conference League matches on the Football Italia Liveblog.

The Giallorossi took an early lead through Neil El Aynaoui, who delicately guided Zeki Celik’s cross into the bottom corner on the full volley seven minutes in on Thursday evening. 

Not long afterwards, in the 13th minute, Kone went down after a 50/50 challenge with Ousmane Diao. He stayed down until after the ball went out of play in the following phase. 

Replays showed that Diao caught the inner heel of Kone’s boot, which caused him to roll over his ankle. 

Kone received medical treatment on the pitch, and was initially able to continue, playing a further 15 minutes before being taken off in the 27th minute. Italy international Bryan Cristante came on in his place.