Argentina international Carlos Tevez was left saddened after his challenge horrifically snapped the shin of Argentinos Juniors midfielder Ezequiel Ham in Boca Juniors' win.
A heavy challenge from Tevez led to the ugly broken leg for Ham in the latter stages of the Argentine Primera Division clash.
A bad pass left Tevez chasing and his side-footed challenge for a 50-50 ball went through Ham's shin.
Tevez had struck a brace before Ham pulled a goal back for the hosts at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona, where Boca ran out 3-1 winners.
An apologetic Tevez was left upset following the incident, for which he avoided a yellow card that would have seen him sent off.
"It makes me angry because I went for the ball, it was neither malicious nor my intention to hurt him. The touch told me I'd done something wrong," he told Futbol Para Todos immediately after the match.
"I'm sad because I didn't want to do anything bad to him. I've never hurt anyone, this is my first time.
"Now I'm going to see him and apologise, as I should do."
It overshadowed a fine performance by Tevez, who struck the opener in first-half additional time with a tremendous 20-yard effort into the top corner.
Reinaldo Lenis saw red for the hosts before Tevez scored a second in the 54th minute after a Nicolas Lodeiro throughball.
Ham pulled a goal back before the injury, and Jonathan Calleri sealed Boca's win late on as they pulled five points clear at the top.
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