ARMANDO BROJA suffered a serious setback when Chelsea were defeated by Aston Villa in a mid-season friendly.
The Blues striker stretched in Abu Dhabi after screaming in pain after twisting his knee in Villa’s penalty while contesting the ball with Ezri Konsa.
Broja was one of the few veteran players named to Chelsea’s young team, which brought down a forged Villa in the seventh minute.
Ollie Watkins broke down the left and passed through captain John McGinn, who shot low to Marcus Bettinelli in the Chelsea goal.
The Graham Potter youth team sought to battle the thrilling Omari Hutchinson.
The winger, who joined Arsenal this summer, is the top damaging player in a Chelsea forward line that included Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Hutchinson saw a weak effort through Robin Olsen in goal, before he drove from the right and doubled a good effort into the outside doors of the bar.
The attack was then ruined for the rest of the night when Broja fell with a scream of agony.
Konsa and Olsen immediately beckoned for doctors to rush in, and Broja remained on the ground for a long time before he was lifted onto the gurney.
Broja has scored one goal and one hand in 12 Premier League games so far this season.
Any long-term injury to the Albanian will leave Chief Potter with a senior striker, Pierre-Emerick Aybameyang, in his team.
Aubameyang has scored just one Premier League goal in six games since leaving Barcelona, while the former Arsenal player has scored two Champions League goals this season.
The move adds to an already long list of injuries for Potter. Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Carney Chuckwuemeka, N’Golo Kante, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Wesley Fofana saw in the stands in Abu Dhabi but were injured.
In addition, Trevoh Chalobah was due to start the match before being replaced by Alfie Gilchrist shortly before the start of the match, it is unclear if this was due to injury.
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