24 hours on from Sergio Aguero being stretchered off in Argentina’s match against Ecuador, David Silva limped out of Spain’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Luxembourg.
A wayward challenge from Lars Gerson on Silva’s ankle caused August’s Etihad Player of the Month to exit the action early in Logroño.
Although David tried to play on for a couple of minutes, the 30-year old eventually signalled to the bench that he needed to come off and he was replaced by Juan Mata after nine minutes.
If there is any silver lining to the cloud from a City point-of-view, David was able to walk off on his own steam and the decision on his withdrawal could potentially have been taken as a precautionary measure.
It was goalless when David went off and Spain went on to win 4-0 thanks to a pair of braces by Santi Cazorla and Paco Alcacer to book their place at next summer’s tournament.
“I don’t know the extent of the injuries,” Spain Head Coach Vincente Del Bosque said after the game.
“Our doctors will inform us once they know something. We know nothing at the moment.”
According to Spanish publication AS: “Medical update from the Spain camp: Silva - a ‘strong’ sprain (Grade II) lateral internal ligament, right ankle. At a guess, 2-3 weeks out.”
More updates on David Silva’s condition to come when we have them here on mcfc.co.uk.
Meanwhile, England beat Estonia 2-0 at Wembley and made it nine wins from nine games in Euro 2016 qualifying.
Theo Walcott broke the deadlock with a neat finish on the stroke of half-time before City’s Raheem Sterling netted his second international goal with six minutes to go.
75,000 spectators turned up to watch the game despite the fact that the Three Lions had already made sure of their place in France next summer long ago.
Both Joe Hart and Sterling started the game for the hosts, with the latter lining up on the left flank.
It was a quiet night for Joe who was winning his 55th cap as Estonia rarely ventured into the England defensive third, while Raheem had an industrious night on the wing, always wanting the ball and getting plenty of joy out of the Estonian right-back.
Sterling nearly capped an impressive evening’s work with a stunning solo goal on 77 minutes when he dipped inside from the left and sought out the far corner with a curling effort but it flew just wide of the post.
However, the 20-year old didn’t have to wait long to double his international tally as he scored ten minutes later, sliding in at the back post from Jamie Vardy’s ball across the six-yard box.
Both City representatives got through the 90 minutes unscathed and will be in contention to face Lithuania in England’s final qualifier on Monday night.
Elsewhere, Jack Byrne helped Ireland u21s to a 3-0 win over Lithuania in qualifying for the European u21 Championships.
