The Columbus Crew found themselves without Wessam Abou Ali for the last 16 minutes of the first half after the Palestinian striker was stretchered off with an apparent knee injury.

Abou Ali suffered the injury first in the 22nd minute as he attempted to disposses Brian Ojeda from the ball in the Crew’s attacking third. The striker went down clutching his right knee in agonizing pain after not making contact with the Lions midfielder.

After being tended to by the medical staff, Abou Ali was seen doing stretches and jogs in front of the Crew bench, while in communication with head coach Henrik Rydström and the athletic training staff. He soon returned to the pitch, favoring his right knee as the game progressed on.

Abou Ali went down again in the 32nd minute on a no-contact run inside the penalty area, this time motioning for Columbus to use a substitution window. He was soon stretchered off and taken down the away tunnel, visibly upset.

The injury is eerily similar to his last year after he was forced out of the match against Toronto FC. After being injured, he returned to the match and was soon replaced in the first half after injuring himself again.

So far this season, Abou Ali has registered five goals and one assist in seven matches, playing just above 500+ minutes for the Black & Gold.

“I don’t know [the severity] really,” said Rydström post-game. “They need to examine him fully. It doesn’t look so good, but I can’t say so much more than that.”

When asked if he had any reservations about letting Abou Ali play, Rydström went on to say, “I was not in that conversation at all. When something happens, we start more to think, ‘Can he go and keep on playing? They said, ‘Maybe not.’”

“Then we start, ‘OK, who do we put in?’ I thought it was too early for (Forward) Jamal (Thiaré). We wanted (Midfielder) Taha (Habroune) in. Then you start to think about that, and then you just hear that [Abou Ali can return], and that’s the way we work. Then I trust them, and they need to make a decision from the information they have at that point. Nobody did anything wrong, and you can have bad luck anyway.”

It was confirmed by the striker himself via social media Monday afternoon that he suffered a torn ACL and meniscus.

“That’s just another challenge to come back, and be even stronger,” said the striker on his Instagram post.

“I’ve overcome multiple difficulties throughout my career. One perspective that we can’t forget is that whatever we go through, there will always be someone suffering.”

Columbus is back in action Wednesday evening to take on the Richmond Kickers in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.