Eric Bailly is at risk of an extended spell on the sidelines at Marseille after his shocking challenge resulted in an opposition player being rushed to hospital.
The defender, who is on loan from Manchester United this season, was shown a straight red card in the 15th minute of Marseille's fixture against amateur side Hyeres in the early stages of the Coupe de France clash on Saturday. Bailly, 28, connected studs-up with Almike Moussa N'Diaye's chest while stretching to win a bouncing ball, leaving his opponent requiring on-pitch treatment before he was taken to hospital in an ambulance for precautionary checks.
Despite the dismissal leaving Marseille with 10 men, the French giants progressed to the round of 32 with a 2-0 victory over their fourth-tier opponents thanks to goals from Alexis Sanchez and Bamba Dieng. However, that may not the last Bailly will be hearing about his moment of madness.
That is because French outlet RMC Sport claims he could face a ban of between four and six games as a result of his horror tackle. The report notes the severe end of the sanction would see Bailly miss important Ligue 1 fixtures against Monaco and Lorient, who are chasing Marseille for a spot in the Champions League places.
In the wake of Bailly's terrible challenge, Hyeres president Mourad Boudjellal told AFP of N'Diaye: "He was transferred to Hospital Nord in Marseille and they admitted him to intensive care as a precaution. We pray that everything goes well for him. He's a great lad and one of our best players."
Assistant coach Zaki Noubir was able to offer a more encouraging update, saying N'Diaye was taken to intensive care out of "more fear than harm", adding the injury was "nothing serious, perhaps a concussion". Meanwhile, Marseille manager Igor Tudor said: "On the red card, I didn't see what happened.
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"But the sending-off changed everything and we had to push hard to win. It was a typically dangerous Coupe de France game. We'll see later what the penalty will be for Bailly."
Tudor added: "With the red card, it totally changed the situation. We had to push hard for 90 minutes. I had to adapt because there were not many players on the bench available. We had to invent something to be able to score and get the best out of each player.
"So I played with Sanchez and Bamba in front and then we made a choice to switch to 5-3-1 to keep the result and control the end of the match."
Marseille sit third in Ligue 1, four points behind surprise-package Lens and eight points behind defending champions Paris Saint-Germain.
