Cesar Azpilicueta has thanked ‘everyone who has been looking after me‘ after being taken to hospital following the head injury he suffered during Chelsea’s Premier League defeat to Southampton.
The fixture at Stamford Bridge was paused for several minutes as Azpilicueta received oxygen treatment after being kicked in the face by Sekou Mara as the Southampton forward attempted an overhead kick.
Azpilicueta, who has been at Chelsea for more than a decade, was taken off on a stretcher and gestured towards the home fans as he left the field.
After Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat, Blues boss Graham Potter confirmed Azpilicueta was ‘conscious’ and ‘speaking’ in a nearby hospital.
On Sunday, Azpilicueta posted on Twitter: ‘Hi everyone! Thank you all for your love and messages of support!
‘My family and I would like to thank everyone who has been looking after me since yesterday’s incident…
‘From the Chelsea medical team, to team-mates and opponents, to St Mary’s and Cleveland Hospital and all staff members and doctors: a massive thank you from the bottom of my heart.
‘Now, time to recover and I will see you soon on the pitch!’
Chelsea’s struggles continue on Saturday as relegation-battlers Southampton clinched a 1-0 win thanks to James Ward-Prowse’s first-half free-kick.
The Blues – who lost the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund – are 10th in the Premier League, 10 points outside the top-four places.
‘The first half was below par from us,’ under-fire Chelsea boss Potter said. ‘Credit to Southampton, they mixed the game up well.
‘For different reasons we weren’t at the level we should have been in the first half. In the second half our response was really good.
‘You have to put those chances away. The scoreline isn’t good enough for us, we’re disappointed with that. We got into some really good opportunities and at the level we’re playing at, you have to score them.
‘We had that in the week against Dortmund, but the first half was probably a reflection of us returning from the Champions League, the changes we had to make and a lack of fluidity.’
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