Nico O’Reilly suffers hamstring injury in Manchester City clash with Chelsea | OneFootball

Manchester City defender Nico O’Reilly was taken off with a hamstring injury in the second-half of his side’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Sunday evening.

The 21-year-old maintained his excellent run of form by breaking the deadlock with a brilliant header from Rayan Cherki’s cross to give Pep Guardiola and co a monumental lead after 57 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

O’Reilly has been one of City’s best performers this season as the Blues undergo a period of transition under director of football Hugo Viana, who has orchestrated a major revamp of Guardiola’s squad in the last 12 months.

City entered Sunday evening’s clash with Chelsea nine points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal but with renewed optimism of hijacking another league title right under the Gunners’ noses after the north Londoners suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday.

After a goalless first-half at Stamford Bridge, O’Reilly rose highest and headed home from Cherki’s cross before Manchester City’s architect-in-chief teed in January signing Marc Guehi, who smashed home expertly with a striker’s finish following a corner situation just before the hour mark.

Jeremy Doku added a third for Manchester City soon after but the Premier League title chasers have been handed a potentially very concerning injury blow after O’Reilly went off with what seemed like a hamstring injury and was replaced by Rayan Ait-Nouri after 65 minutes.

The full extent of O’Reilly’s issue and ramifications on the England international’s availability for next weekend’s title decider against Arsenal remain to be seen.

O’Reilly was spotted in conversation with Guardiola on the touchline at Stamford Bridge before he headed down the tunnel, with there a likelihood the substitution was a precaution and a means to protect one of Manchester City’s best players from aggravating his injury.

Guardiola is expected to provide an update on O’Reilly’s injury after full-time at Stamford Bridge, with Ruben Dias on the sidelines with a hamstring issue himself and John Stones nursing a calf injury he sustained on recent international duty with England.