PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Eric Bailly – Ivorian’s illness ruled him out of FA Cup semifinal

by Graeme Jackson

Friday Apr 27, 2018. 19:00

It has been revealed that Manchester United’s Ivorian defender Eric Bailly missed the FA Cup semifinal win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend due to illness and not injury.

The Elephants centre-back missed the Red Devils’ Premier League matches against West Bromwich Albion and Bournemouth, but was expected to line-up against Spurs at Wembley.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Bailly was vomiting prior to the match against West Brom on April 15. He felt well enough to travel to Bournemouth three days later but was not 100 percent fit.

Manager Jose Mourinho then chose not to risk playing the 24-year-old for the semifinal, instead opting to keep the pairing of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, who performed impressively against the Cherries and were also excellent at Wembley.

Bailly will hope he can fight his way back into the starting XI for Sunday’s Premier League match at home to Arsenal, though Mourinho may be disinclined to change his defence for the match against the Gunners.