Lia Walti suffers worrying injury just days after signing new Arsenal contract
By Emily Keogh
Lia Walti suffered a nasty ankle injury in Arsenal's WSL game against Everton, forcing her to be stretchered off just days after signing a new contract with the club.
Minutes into the second half, a mindless and late tackle from Everton forward Aggie Beever-Jones meant Walti became another name in a string of Arsenal players forced off the pitch through injury.
Beever-Jones, on loan from Chelsea, brought the Swiss star down, earning herself a red card and forcing Everton to play the rest of the game, which ended in a 4-1 win for the Gunners, with 10 players.
Walti has been integral to Arsenal since a season of injuries has marred their campaign, most notably Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Kim Little, Leah Williamson and Laura Wienroither, all missing the end of the season through major injuries, four ACL tears and one hamstring.
Speaking afterwards, Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall said, "It didn’t look good, but we need to wait until the morning and see then."
Eidevall added to Sky Sports: "We need to assess it, of course, but we also think about her, she also has a World Cup to play in the summer so there is, of course a lot of emotions and thoughts going into here, then we need to keep on going as a group.
"We've handled challenges and adversity before this season and we need to do that again."
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The injury marred the end of the game, many fans letting their frustations out on social media. Some even directly targeted 19-year-old Beever-Jones, who was in tears when she left the pitch. Taking to Instagram after the final whistle, Walti shared the following statement.
"Football is a contact sport, these injuries unfortunately happen and are part of our game. No need for any hate or bad comments towards Agnes Beever-Jones, please. Thank you!" she said.
Walti recently signed a new contract with Arsenal, committing her future to the North London club after joining in 2018, making over 60 appearances for the club.
Her post came after Beever-Jones' own statement on Instagram, apologising for the unintentional tackle and wishing the midfielder a speedy recovery.
"At 19, I struggle to put into words how upset I am about injuring another player," the loanee said. "Most importantly, I meant no harm whatsoever to Lia Walti. I'm just not the type of player that would intentionally hurt another player. I lost control of the ball and was over eager to try and win the ball back. My lunge resulted in a bad unintentional reckless challenge.
"I'm still learning so much about the game and myself with every minute I play. I've let myself down and my teammates. It's been a huge learning for me tonight as I process what's happened to another WSL professional player. I'm so sorry Lia. I hope the injury is not too serious and that you make a fast and full recovery to Arsenal and the World Cup.
"I also want to apologise to all the Everton Women staff, players and fans as I feel I let you all down too. That's not the way I would ever have wanted to end my loan at a brilliant football club. Thank you for everything this season."