The Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles has apologised to Kevin De Bruyne after the Manchester City midfielder was carried off with a knee injury in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at the Etihad.
Robles attempted to pull the Belgian to his feet after he went down, perhaps suspecting him of trying to waste time.
“I would like to apologise to Kevin De Bruyne for my reaction to his injury. In the heat of the moment I didn’t realise he was badly hurt ...” the Spanish goalkeeper said on Twitter in the wake of the 3-1 defeat.
De Bruyne is to have a scan on the injury on Thursday morning though his agent was optimistic about his recovery, Sky Sports News quoting him as saying De Bruyne was expected to be “back in a few days”.
Patrick De Koster also spoke to the Belgian website Sporza, saying: “Kevin felt a little crack in his knee. He thinks he has a twisted knee and ankle, no MCL [medial collateral ligament] damage.”
The midfielder, who came on as a late substitute for Yaya Touré, appeared to catch his studs in the turf and twist his knee as he challenged Ramiro Funes Mori in injury time and was carried off on a stretcher.
In what had been an eventful game for the Belgian – he scored in the 70th minute after the officials missed the ball going into touch in the buildup – City progressed 4-3 on aggregate and will meet Liverpool in the Capital One Cup final at the end of February.
“The doctor thinks he has a problem in his medial ligament but it is impossible to know,” the City manager Manuel Pellegrini said after the game. “I hope he is not out for the season. It is very difficult to know at this moment but I am optimistic he will not be out for the rest of the season. It is not a cruciate ligament.”
