Waylon Francis Dealing with Dislocated Shoulder

A routine corner kick in the 53rd minute by New York City FC in last night’s 3-3 draw with Columbus Crew SC could have a large impact on the Black & Gold’s season.

Following the service by NYCFC’s Andrea Pirlo, Crew SC left back Waylon Francis dropped into a heap in the Columbus penalty area. Goalkeeper Steve Clark indicated to the bench rather quickly and athletic trainer Craig Devine worked on Francis for a minute before assisting him directly to the locker room.

Following the match, head coach Gregg Berhalter said Francis suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Replay of the incident showed the left back marking City’s Maxime Chanot on the corner kick and while reaching to block off the center back, his arm appeared to be caught. Francis went down quickly and immediately grabs the arm.

Dislocated shoulders are tricky to deal with. The injury is not always long term, but it would not be unreasonable for Francis to miss the remainder of the regular season.

Francis has appeared in 17 games this season for Crew SC registering three assists, including one on Columbus’ opening goal of the match.

The Black & Gold brought in veteran left back Corey Ashe in the offseason. Ashe has started nine games in his debut season for Crew SC, but missed the last two matches with a knee injury.

With no like-for-like replacement on the bench, Berhalter turned to versatile midfielder/defender Hector Jimenez who played the remaining 29 minutes of the match.

We will have more updates on both Francis and Ashe from Berhalter and Crew SC as they become available.