FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Crystal Palace - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain - December 26, 2024 Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi in action with AFC Bournemouth's Enes Unal Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/File Photo
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Bournemouth striker Enes Unal has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in training, the team announced on Wednesday, in a huge blow a day after news that fellow forward Evanilson had undergone surgery for a foot fracture.
"We are devastated to confirm that Enes Unal has suffered a tear to his right anterior cruciate ligament during a training session this week," the club said in a statement.
"The Turkish striker, who has featured in every Cherries game since September, scoring two vital goals in our current club-record unbeaten run in the Premier League, experienced the contact injury in a routine drill on Tuesday morning."
The team did not provide a timeline for his recovery, but he is expected to miss the remainder of the season at least.
Bournemouth are seventh in the Premier League standings on 33 points, three points off the top four, and their 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday meant they set a club record of eight successive Premier League games unbeaten this season.
They also recorded a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in mid-October, and a 2-1 win over Manchester City two weeks later.
"First and foremost, our thoughts are with Enes at this moment as he begins to process another significant period of rehabilitation ahead," the club said. "He will undergo surgery to repair the ligament in the coming days and the club's medical and performance staff will support him in every way possible throughout."
Evanilson underwent surgery to repair a fractured metatarsal, one of the five long bones that run the length of the foot.
The Brazilian, who has five goals in 19 appearances since joining for a club record 40 million euros ($41.17 million) from Porto in August, suffered the injury during Saturday's game.
($1 = 0.9715 euros)
(This story has been corrected to clarify that the wins over Arsenal and Manchester City were not part of the unbeaten run, in paragraph 6)
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
