David Silva was hospitalised during yesterday’s Premier League clash between Manchester City and West Ham after finding himself at the wrong end of Cheikhou Kouyate’s elbow.
The Spaniard has now been given the all-clear and Irons manager Sam Allardyce has insisted that the incident, which saw the Senegal international pick up a yellow card, was entirely accidental.
Here at Ladbrokes News we’re not going to act as judge, jury and executioner to say what was or wasn’t intentional but we’d like to know if you think yesterday’s clash is among the worst elbows seen in football.
Here we highlight five clashes and give you the chance to vote on which you think is the worst.
Cheikhou Kouyate on David Silva
That there is a solid connection in undeniable but with Allardyce adamant that it was an innocuous coming together it is difficult to tag the Hammers player a brute.
Ben Thatcher on Pedro Mendes
Former Manchester City man Thatcher clattered into Portsmouth’s Mendes back in 2006, leaving the Pompey man requiring oxygen at the side of the pitch. The Portuguese playmaker suffered a seizure and was sent to the hospital but released the next day. City suspended Thatcher for six games and fined his six week’s wages, while the FA handed him an eight-game ban.
Alex Song on Mario Mandzukic
Cameroon lost 4-0 to Croatia in the World Cup but the game could have been different had the influential Alex Song not been given his marching orders with the score at 1-0.
The Barcelona man inexplicably swung his elbow at Mandzukic’s back and while the contact appeared minimal the referee wasted no time in sending Song to the stands.
John Fashanu on Gary Mabbutt
Long before he found fame as the host of TV’s Gladiators, Fashanu had carved a reputation for being a football hardman, earning his Fash the Bash nickname.
No one was more aware of the Wimbledon man’s brute force, however, than Spurs and England star Gary Mabbutt, who was forced to wear a protective mask for many weeks after a Fash elbow caused this damage to his eye…
Daniele De Rossi on Brian McBride
America’s 2006 World Cup highlight was a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Italy. However, the game is remembered perhaps for different reasons with Italy’s De Rossi picking up a straight red card for a thunderous elbow on Team USA’s Brian McBride.
De Rossi was fined 10,000 Swiss francs for his actions and was banned until the final – where he scored a penalty in the Azzurri’s win over Franc – but waited for McBride at the end of the game to personally apologise, an act which saw the American refer to his rival as a “classy” individual.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
