the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, as well as the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He underwent three surgeries to repair the injury and was told by doctors that the injury could possibly be career-ending. Following the surgeries, he underwent eight months of rehabilitation and made his return to first team action in the 2006–07 season in a League Cup match against Liverpool. He appeared as a substitute in the match as Arsenal won 6–3. On 25 February 2007, while participating in the 2007 Football League Cup Final against Chelsea, Diaby, while attempting to clear the ball out of the Arsenal defense, accidentally kicked rival defender John Terry in the face. Unconscious, Terry was stretchered off and hospitalized, but recovered to return to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for the trophy presentation following Chelsea's 2–1 win. Though Arsenal lost, Diaby was credited with an assist on the team's only goal of the match, which was converted by Theo Walcott. Diaby scored his first and only goal of the campaign on 14 March in a 1–0 win over Aston Villa when he deflected in a Júlio Baptista shot. He remained a fixture within the team for the rest of the campaign, mostly as a substitute as he only started in consecutive matches once. In Diaby's first full season with Arsenal, he scored his first goal on 22 September 2007 in the club's 5–0 win over Derby County. Three days later, he assisted on a goal in a 2–0 League Cup win over Newcastle United. In December 2007, Diaby scored goals in back-to-back matches for the first time in his career. He scored the first goal on 12 December in the team's final Champions League group stage match against Romanian club Steaua București. Arsenal won the match 2–1. Six days later, Diaby scored Arsenal's opening goal in the club's 3–2 away win over Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup. Diaby failed to chart anything statistical for the rest of the winter months aside from an assist in a 4–1 win over Everton. On 29 March 2008, Diaby was sent off for the first time in his professional career in a league match against Bolton Wanderers for a studs-up tackle on defender Grétar Steinsson. Diaby was defended by Wenger who stated "I don’t think Diaby’s tackle was malicious, it was more protective". Wenger also stated that Diaby's tackle should not be compared