Former Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen suffered a nasty head injury while starring for Ajax on Wednesday evening.
The 30-year-old helped his side to a 2-1 cup victory over rivals Feyenoord, scoring the game's winning goal in the 51st minute of the match.
Taking the gloss off this win, however, were the unsavoury scenes which forced the match to be halted for over half an hour after Klaassen was struck by an item thrown at him by a supporter during proceedings. Police confirmed after the game a 32-year-man had been arrested.
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After play resumed at the home of Feyenoord, Klaassen was soon substituted when complaining of dizziness. His team would hold on to book their place in the final of the KNVB Beker, which will come as a major boost after losing ground in their battle for the Eredivisie title with last night's opponents.
Attempting to make sense of just what occurred to him, Klaassen said after the match: "There was some sort of altercation and I went to try to calm things down. Then something hit my head. In the beginning it just hurt. That quickly made place for anger. I thought to myself, 'how is this possible?'
"I had a throbbing feeling around the wound and I also had trouble focusing, so I could have stayed on the pitch but that was not going to help me nor the team. You don't want to let it get to you but sometimes you have to put your pride aside and do what's best for the team."
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