Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini confirmed that captain Vincent Kompany suffered a recurrence of his troublesome calf injury in Saturday's 4-1 Premier League win over Sunderland.
City were in sublime form at the Etihad Stadium as Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony put the hosts into a 3-0 half-time lead before the impressive Kevin De Bruyne made sure of the win after the break.
But the home fans fell silent in the 72nd minute when skipper Kompany limped off less than 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute for his first appearance since early November due to a persistent calf problem.
And Pellegrini was at a loss to explain why the injury keeps reoccurring.
"I am happy that the performance was very good, we played attacking football, and I am happy with the individual performances. The only pity was Vincent Kompany’s injury," he told BBC Sport.
"It is a calf injury. Nobody understands it. He had a good warm-up, he was working during the week with normality. It is difficult to understand.
"The most important thing is to understand why this happens. That is the most important to focus on now."
