Abraham prays on pitch after Maignan’s sickening collision with Milan teammate

AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was stretchered off after a brutal collision with teammate Alex Jimenez.

The incident occurred in the 52nd minute of Milan’s 4-0 win over Udinese when Maignan raced out of his box to clear a long ball played out from Udinese’s backline.

4

4

Unfortunately for Maignan, his attempt to head the ball away from danger ended with him hitting his head against Jimenez as both had eyes for the ball.

The collision rendered Maignan unconscious as the referee called an immediate halt to the contest.

Medical staff rushed to Maignan’s aid and immediately placed him in the recovery position.

Maignan was subsequently taken from the field on a stretcher.

The incident left several of Maignan’s Milan teammates extremely concerned for his health including substitute striker Tammy Abraham, who dropped to his knees and prayed for the goalkeeper.

Thankfully, multiple reports claimed Maignan was conscious and talking by the time he went off the pitch.

The Frenchman has since been transported to hospital for further assessments.

He was subsequently replaced by Marco Sportiello in the 55th minute.

Despite Jimenez’s involvement in the collision, he remained on the field for a further 20 minutes before he was taken off for Abraham.

At the time of the incident, Milan lead 2-0 via goals from Rafael Leao and Strahinja Pavlovic.

4

Second-half strikes from Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders completed the four-goal rout.

Despite the victory, the immediate thoughts of Milan’s players were with Maignan.

In a post-match interview, Christian Pulisic told DAZN: “The most important thing is that Mike is OK. Our thoughts are with him.”

Goalscorer Leao added: “With what had happened before in Udine, it’s a strange environment.

“We came in focused, having prepared well for the game after a good week of work.

“This victory, however, is for Maignan.”

4

Milan defender Matteo Gabbia said: “Fortunately, Mike is fine. We all asked the doctor how he was, and he reassured us by telling us that he’s in the hospital for tests, but he’s doing okay. He’s a great captain, he also stuck his face into a dangerous situation.”

The win for Milan moved them to 51 points but kept them in ninth on the Serie A table, as they sit four points behind sixth-placed Lazio who occupy the league’s last European qualification spot.

As for Udinese, the defeat to the Italian giants was their fourth-straight in the league and left them 11th on 40 points.