As successful as Friday evening ended from VfB Stuttgart’s point of view with the 2-0 win against 1. FC Union Berlin, it was also bitter for Anthony Rouault. He suffered a painful injury in the first round that forced him to be substituted early. Now VfB announced the bitter diagnosis.
What happened? There was a crash in a duel that initially seemed harmless in the 26th minute: Berlin’s Robin Gosens hit Stuttgart’s central defender violently in the face with his elbow and hip. Rouault immediately fell to the ground in a daze and had to be treated for several minutes.
It’s doubly bitter: the French defender was already playing with a face mask, as he had broken his nose just a few weeks ago.
At first, the 22-year-old literally bit his teeth and dragged himself on until halftime. But during the break it was finally clear: Rouault couldn’t continue and he was replaced by VfB captain Waldemar Anton, who was also injured.
The VfB star will be out for four to six weeks
The day after Stuttgart’s important home win, VfB announced details about the unlucky guy’s injury: Anthony Rouault actually broke his jaw in the collision with Union player Gosens. In any case, this means another forced break for the defensive man. As VfB further reported, Rouault will have to undergo an operation.
As the Swabians confirmed, head coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team will probably have to be without the central defender, who moved to the country from FC Toulouse last summer, for four to six weeks.
In what has been an outstanding VfB season to date, Rouault has played in 20 competitive games.