Arsenal failed to use their concussion substitute after Jesus injury

CHRIS SUTTON: Gabriel Jesus should not have been on the pitch according to football’s head injury protocols as Arsenal FAILED to utilise their designated concussion substitute in victory over Liverpool

  • Gabriel Jesus was lucky to still be on the pitch when he won Arsenal’s penalty
  • The Brazilian fell to the turf after a head injury during the 3-2 win over Liverpool
  • Jesus was reintroduced to the game but did Arsenal follow the correct protocol?
  • Arsenal failed to use their designated concussion substitute after Jesus’ injury

Gabriel Jesus won the penalty for Arsenal’s winner against Liverpool but should he have been on the pitch? 

If football’s concussion protocols were followed – ‘if in doubt, sit them out’ is the motto, remember – then you’d have to say no. 

After being elbowed by Liverpool’s Konstantinos Tsimikas, Jesus looked out cold. He dropped to his knees and fell on his face. 

Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus fell to the turf under a challenge from Konstantinos Tsimikas on Sunday

Tsimikas and Bukayo Saka immediately went to check on Jesus who was out cold on the pitch

He lay face-down in the dirt with no movement. His team-mates called on the medics to hurry and flipped him on to his side. 

Wouldn’t you think that constituted a ‘doubt’? Most reasonable-minded folks would say, for Jesus’s own safety, he should have been substituted. 

Jesus eventually came back onto the pitch but Chris Sutton has questioned Arsenal’s decision

The Premier League has the use of concussion substitutes but Arsenal didn’t use one here. The club can say he passed the tests amid his three minutes of medical treatment on the field. 

But the replays of that collision with Tsimikas’s elbow made for uncomfortable viewing as Jesus continued, potentially putting himself at risk of another head injury.




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