Arsene Wenger has revealed Mesut Ozil "felt a crack" in his knee against Chelsea but played on for Arsenal nonetheless.
The midfielder played the full 90 minutes of the 2-0 defeat but Germany doctors ruled him out for up to three months with a collateral ligament tear in his left knee three days later.
Wenger says he is "shocked" by the extent of the injury, admitting the length of the lay-off is "difficult to take" due to it seemingly being caused without contact with another player.
"He had a little problem just before he went out at half-time. He had a little pain with his knee, he felt a crack," he told beIN Sports.
"I said to our physio to keep an eye on him and if there was anything wrong with him, tell me because when you’re 1-0 down, you want to keep your offensive players on the pitch.
"I am deeply shocked. He wasn’t involved in a collision with anybody. It was just after making a pass with the outside of his foot that he injured his leg.
"It's very hard to believe that you can damage your ligament with just making a simple pass and it’s very difficult to take that he will be out for a while."
Ozil's injury is the 10th suffered by a first-team member, prompting criticism of Wenger's training techniques, but the Arsenal manager insists such troubles are "accidental".
He added: "I am not a great believer in coincidences but this time it really is coincidence. You cannot say our injuries are preparation mistakes. The big injuries we have are really accidental.
"Scientifically we are quite good. We have been hit hard after seven games. I would never have thought we would have had so many bad injuries."
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