Lindelof's health scare difficult for players: de Gea

LONDON • Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea said it was difficult to watch Victor Lindelof struggle to breathe in Saturday's 1-0 English Premier League away win against Norwich as it reminded him of Christian Eriksen and Sergio Aguero's on-pitch health issues.

The Sweden defender was replaced by Eric Bailly as a precaution shortly before Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning penalty at Carrow Road.

United later said that the signs were positive after Lindelof was checked by medical staff, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick adding: "He had a condition, he was struggling to breathe... and his heart rate was higher than normal so we had to replace him. He felt pain in his chest but they did all the tests and everything seems to be OK."

However, de Gea said the incident brought back memories of Denmark midfielder Eriksen, who collapsed while playing at Euro 2020 after suffering a cardiac arrest and has not played since.

Argentina striker Sergio Aguero had to be substituted after feeling chest pain while playing for Barcelona in October and was subsequently ruled out for at least three months because of a reported irregular heartbeat.

"As soon as it was like difficult breathing, feeling strange, the game doesn't matter. First of all is life," de Gea told Sky Sports. "We saw already Eriksen, Aguero... so it's sometimes, a bit difficult to see your player acting like this."

It remains to be seen if Lindelof will be fit for tomorrow's trip to Brentford, with Bailly his natural replacement as Raphael Varane is still injured.

United struggled to create opportunities at relegation-threatened Norwich and were indebted to de Gea, who made several fine saves.

But they were not the only top side to find it hard going over the weekend as the league's top three in Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all required penalty winners to dispatch their opponents.

Rangnick, taking charge of just his third game, said: "It was a very intense game, very physical. We need to be able to compete on that kind of level. There's still room for improvement in this area."

Yesterday, Leicester left Newcastle still rooted in the relegation zone with a 4-0 thrashing, while fourth-place West Ham's Champions League ambitions were dented by a 0-0 draw at Burnley.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS