Fear for Soucek! The Czech midfielder was brought down so hard by the Brighton goalkeeper, he had to leave the pitch and substitute

West Ham drew with Bournemouth and faced Brighton in the third round. Tomas Soucek was in the line-up, but had to make an early substitution. The fans are understandably worried about him.

West Ham fans have been dreading the new Premier League season after a poor preparation. Already during the last friendly matches many of them called for the end of coach David Moyes, however, it did not happen in the end.

There was a long wait for some reinforcements, but the Hammers finally got them. They then made a relatively decent start to the league, earning a draw at Bournemouth.

The second round offered a different story. Thanks to the great efficiency and, on the contrary, the terrible efficiency of the opponent, West Ham coped with Chelsea at their shrine and managed to beat them 3-1.

Tomas Soucek was the key player in both matches for the full 90 minutes. Understandably, he was not missing in the line-up against Brighton in the third round match. But he did not finish the match.

With the score 1:0 in favour of the Hammers, he was brought down hard by goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen during a standard situation and uncompromisingly hit him in the head with both hands. Soucek subsequently fell to the ground and was treated for a long time.

In essence, it was a clean knockout, but it was not even perceived as a foul. As soon as Soucek got to his feet, it was clear that he was badly shaken. That’s why he had to leave the field in the 39th minute.

The fans were understandably worried about him. Considering how many fights he appears in, he has to take a lot of hard knocks. Moreover, he is now getting into great form and Hammers supporters are worried about losing him for an extended period of time.

Source: Premier League, West Ham United