Former Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has revealed how the horrific leg break suffered by Eduardo da Silva against Birmingham City put insecurity into his old team.
Arsene Wenger’s side were five points clear at the top of the Premier League when they headed to St Andrew's looking to extend their lead to eight points.
But when Birmingham defender Martin Taylor mistimed a challenge inside the opening five minutes, Eduardo suffered a sickening leg break.
The forward’s tibia and fibula fractured instantly, the shattered bones rupturing the tissue of his standing leg as the force of impact dislocated his ankle.
The Gunners would go on to draw the game 2-2 after James McFadden scored a last-gasp equaliser for the hosts.
But from there, Wenger’s side suffered a sudden loss of form, with the north London club eventually finishing third, four points behind champions Manchester United.
And Sagna has revealed that his team-mate’s leg break played a huge part in his side’s loss of form.
“It was a massive blow to our team,” the Frenchman told Goal.
“We were so confident, we had some form and we were not scared of anyone.
"Everything was going our way. Even when we began the season, we managed to win no matter what. Every time we were losing 1-0, we used to come back and win. The fans played a big part in it as well. They were pushing and the atmosphere was great.
“We were doing very good and Eduardo was flying, he was scoring many goals. He was our main scorer and the fact that he got injured I think it put some insecurity in our team, it maybe made us think about what might happen next.
“It was quite the shock to be on the pitch that day. I don’t want to use it as an excuse because after this we didn’t manage to win for so many games, which was not normal.
“That day at Birmingham was bad. It put insecurity into the team and we were not able to come back.”
