Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo will miss around eight weeks with a knee injury sustained in the 3-2 win over Ipswich, manager Enzo Maresca confirmed. Scans showed the damage was less severe than first feared, with a return expected around December.
Manchester, England: City’s seven-match winning run in the Premier League has come with a cost. Maresca confirmed at his Monday press conference that Semenyo picked up the knee problem late in the victory over Ipswich Town at the Etihad, and that a scan on Sunday had set the length of his absence.
Scan brings some relief
The first assessment had been more worrying than the eventual diagnosis. Maresca said the club had feared a worse injury in the immediate aftermath, and that the scan left City feeling much better because the damage was not as big as expected. Even so, the timeline is long: Semenyo is expected to be out for about eight weeks, with a return probably in December.
Maresca tried to find a positive in that gap. “When he is back around December it will be like a new player in terms of energy,” he said.
A season still waiting to take off
The setback arrives before Semenyo has found his rhythm in front of goal. Since joining from Bournemouth in January, he has two goals in all competitions this season, both in a single league game against Sunderland last month. He has still contributed, and his cross set up Haaland’s opener in the 4-1 win at Crystal Palace in August. Maresca had also singled out his partnership with Omar Marmoush in pre-season in South Korea.
Other knocks and what comes next
Semenyo was not the only concern coming out of the Ipswich game. Erling Haaland took a knock after scoring twice, and Maresca said only that the striker “can be available” and that City would see how he recovers. On Matheus Nunes, Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovačić, the manager said the rest were more or less okay.
City beat Ipswich for a seventh straight league win under Maresca, and the squad now has to adjust to life without Semenyo for the better part of two months. Their next fixture is a Champions League meeting with AEK Athens at the Etihad on Tuesday.
