Manchester United will head into the international break with wind in their sails as they brushed aside Leicester City 3-0 away from home.
Rasmus Hojlund broke his goal drought, so did Alejandro Garnacho, while Bruno Fernandes continued his heroics but the mood at the end was sombre.
That is because Ayden Heaven came off with what looked like a serious injury, needing prolonged attention before he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
It put a dampener on the mood as Heaven was shining again vs Leicester, emerging as a bonafide world-class prospect before the cruel injury.
At the time of writing, no concrete injury update has arrived on his condition but, according to Dion Dublin and Owen Hargreaves, what Heaven did after his injury gave away the extent of it.
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Ayden Heaven injury
An innocuous collision with Patson Daka immediately took on renewed worry for Man Utd fans when Ayden Heaven writhed on the floor in agony.
Ruben Amorim was asked about an injury update on Heaven after the game but he refused to divulge details, saying they needed time to assess.
The optimistic side of things says that sometimes the immediate pain is more than the extent of the injury long-term so the issue might not be as bad as the optics were.
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However, Dublin and Hargreaves agreed that what the defender did after the injury spells trouble for him and the club.
Speaking on Premier League Productions, Hargreaves said: “He put his hand up straight away. I’m worried he put his hand up quickly. That’s when you just know it’s something bad. That’s what worried me.”
Dion Dublin agreed, saying: “Telltale sign is hand in the air. He wasn’t rolling around on the pitch or moving about.”
On MUTV, former United man Wes Brown echoed similar sentiments: “It wasn’t a good reaction from him… you just wish him all the best and hope first of all, but it’s not too bad but he gets back very fast and very soon.”
Ruben Amorim has a defensive crisis on his hands
It goes without saying that the first priority for everyone at the club will be to hope and pray that Heaven recovers quickly and fully.
However, such is the nature of the game that Ruben Amorim and Man Utd will have to quickly move forward and what lies in wait is a desperate injury crisis.
Harry Amass made his Man Utd debut vs Leicester and Toby Collyer had a stint as the right wing-back during the game, signalling how bad things have gotten.
The international break comes at a good time for United because, despite the result, they couldn’t afford to play more games with this squad running out of energy.
The silver lining is that Heaven’s breakthrough came as a result of an injury crisis, so there’s an opportunity for someone else to step up now that he’s out.
Amorim is doing an already tricky job at the highest possible level of difficulty.