Sunderland's Premier League match with Tottenham Hotspur came to a lengthy halt on Sunday, when Antonin Kinsky and Cristian Romero collided with one another at pace
Cristian Romero left the Stadium of Light pitch in tears on Sunday following a harrowing collision with Antonin Kinsky, which paused play for eight minutes. The injury blow will come as a huge concern for struggling Spurs as their relegation fears deepened after a 1-0 defeat.
After a tightly contested first-half, the Black Cats took the lead just over 15 minutes into the second - Nordi Mukiele charging towards the Lilywhites' area at pace before unleashing from the edge of the box with venom. The Frenchman's shot took a hefty deflection, wrong-footing Kinsky in the process and trickling into the back of the net.
Already a goal down, matters went from bad to worse just a matter of moments later. Brian Brobbey chased down the ball well into Kinsky's box, as Romero looked to shield it from the Sunderland striker.
In the process, however, Romero's knee looked to clash with the head of the Spurs shot-stopper as both fell to the turf, writhing in pain. Medics rushed over to treat both players, Romero lying face down while Kinsky was on his back, with play put on pause for around eight minutes.
Kinsky required heavy bandaging to his head as a result of a cut he sustained from the clash, although he was fine to continue, which was a silver lining for Roberto De Zerbi, considering Tottenham are already without Guglielmo Vicario as a result of hernia surgery.
While Brandon Austin made the trip to the northeast as a backup to Kinsky, his services were ultimately not needed. It was a different state of affairs altogether for Romero, however.
The Argentine was spotted teary-eyed as he hobbled off the hallowed turf of the Stadium of Light, replaced by Kevin Danso. Several Spurs players consoled him as the emotional defender trudged off the pitch.
The injury will give Roberto De Zerbi more of a headache as he struggles with squad selection amid an ever-growing injury crisis.
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On top of Vicario facing a brief stint on the sidelines after his surgery, the club are currently without Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies and Mohammed Kudus.
It comes as De Zerbi will be fully aware of the challenge he faces with just six matches remaining after Sunday's 1-0 loss to Sunderland.
The Italian signed a long-term contract with the club last month as a replacement for Igor Tudor, who left the club by mutual consent just 44 days after taking the reins from a sacked Thomas Frank.
At the time of writing, the Lilywhites sit 18th in the Premier League standings and two points from safety, leapfrogged by West Ham United on Friday as a result of their 4-0 win over Wolves.
Up next for Spurs is a home clash with De Zerbi's former club , Brighton, on Saturday, April 18, before their own trip to Molineux a week later.