He knew as soon as he felt it. For Aaron Ramsey, the sensation of a twanging hamstring has become painfully familiar in recent months. Within seconds, he was signaling to the bench for a change.
On the sideline, Arsene Wenger looked on with both concern and frustration. As he hurriedly prepared Mathieu Flamini, the Arsenal manager was forced to confront the probability of entering a crucial period of the campaign without last season's player of the year.
Ramsey might not even have been on the pitch Tuesday night. Initially left out of the starting XI, he was introduced as a replacement for Theo Walcott when it became clear that Arsenal needed steel rather than speed to keep Leicester at bay. Wenger said in his postmatch news conference that he toyed with the idea of bringing Flamini on instead. Ramsey was the right call from a tactical perspective, but his involvement has come at a significant price.
The early prognosis is not good. This is the third hamstring injury of Ramsey's stop-start season, and the last one kept him sidelined for eight weeks. Given the risk of recurrence, even the slightest sprain is likely to require a few weeks of rest.
Just hours before the game, Wenger had remarked on the dangers of an injury at this point in the season. Speaking in reference to Alexis Sanchez, Wenger said:
"For us it is important that he has no setback as, once you go into February, if you have a muscular injury and a guy has a setback, you say bye-bye as the season is over as it is six weeks out. By the time you come back to your full level it is April, and that is why we didn't take the gamble [of rushing him back]."
How portentous those words seem now. Sanchez has a knock to his knee, and Ramsey looks as if he could miss a number of crucial matches across three competitions, including the Champions League tie with Monaco. A player who was once reliably robust has become a constant fitness concern.
It's certainly a new development. After recovering from his broken leg of 2010, Ramsey was remarkably free of the nagging injuries that usually accompany lengthy layoffs. However, in the past calendar year, his durability has rapidly diminished.
According to Wenger, these recurrent hamstring problems are distinct from the thigh injury that kept Ramsey sidelined for four months in 2013-14. That observation is more concerning than consoling. It seems Ramsey has a generalised propensity toward muscular strains rather than one isolated problem.
Ramsey's situation becomes particularly intriguing when looked at in parallel with that of his preferred midfield partner, Mikel Arteta. Like the Welshman, Arteta seems to be suffering with a persistent muscular issue, racking up three absences due to a calf strain before Christmas. However, it later transpired that the injury stemmed from a bone spur in his ankle. He has since undergone corrective surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. Arsenal's medical team will now be searching for alternative explanations for Ramsey's struggle to maintain fitness.
The injury is another setback for Ramsey in his quest to recapture his best form. Although he was indisputably Arsenal's star last season, he has been unable to reproduce that consistent excellence. There have been flashes of brilliance -- that breathtaking strike against Galatasaray springs to mind -- but there have also been countless misplaced passes, cavalier runs and unnecessary elaborations.
That doesn't make his absence from the team any more palatable. With Arteta still in the early stages of his rehabilitation and Jack Wilshere seemingly lacking in both fitness and professionalism, Ramsey has been the de facto choice for Arsenal in central midfield. Without him, they may be forced to rely on Tomas Rosicky, who has been outstanding but no longer has the capacity to play two full games every week. Even a subdued Ramsey remains an important cog in Arsenal's midfield engine.
As far as achieving an upturn in his performances goes, one suspects we won't see the best of Ramsey until he is clear of his injury worries. When a problem is as persistent at this, it begins to play on the mind. Wenger and his staff must explore every available avenue to get to the bottom of this unrelenting hamstring trouble.