Cesar Azpilicueta receives oxygen and is carried out on a stretcher

Chelsea cap­tain Cesar Azpilicue­ta has suf­fered a seri­ous head injury in a clash with Southamp­ton strik­er Sek­ou Mara.

Azpilicue­ta was kicked in the head by Mara when he attempt­ed an over­head kick in the sec­ond half of the Pre­mier League clash with Southamp­ton at Stam­ford Bridge.

A Chelsea medic rushed to the pitch and tend­ed to the Span­ish defend­er after the imme­di­ate stop­page of play. Azpilicue­ta’s team­mates also rushed in and looked at Azpilicue­ta with con­cern as he fell to the ground.

“He was on the ground for a long time,” for­mer Eng­land mid­field­er Far­rah Williams told BBC’s Final Score. “When some­thing like that hap­pens, you want the right pre­cau­tions taken.

The medics are there and the right thing to do is make sure the play­ers are okay before they leave the pitch. Clear pic­tures. I can’t see it, but it does­n’t seem to be in good condition.”

The match was sus­pend­ed for 10 min­utes while doc­tors at Stam­ford Bridge gave Azpilicue­ta oxy­gen. In the end, he was car­ried off the pitch on a stretch­er to the applause of the fans. Azpilicue­ta raised his arms and thanked him for his applause.

Azpilicue­ta was replaced by Tre­vo Chalo­ba near the end of the game. Chelsea made it 1–0 after receiv­ing a James Ward-Prowse free-kick just before half-time.

Azpilicue­ta has made 501 appear­ances for Chelsea since join­ing from Mar­seille in 2012. At the age of 33, he has won numer­ous tro­phies includ­ing the Pre­mier League, Cham­pi­ons League, Europa League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

Fol­low­ing the depar­ture of Gary Cahill, he was appoint­ed cap­tain of the club ahead of the 2019/20 sea­son. He is cur­rent­ly sixth in Chelsea’s charts for the most caps, behind leg­ends such as Frank Lam­pard, John Ter­ry, Peter Bonet­ti and Ron Harris.