Milan: Rising Italy star Moise Kean was targeted by racist abuse after he continued his goal-scoring spree to push Juventus closer to an eighth consecutive Serie A title Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Cagliari.
Kean, 19, slotted in his fourth goal in as many league games in the 85th minute after defender Leonardo Bonucci nodded in the opener on 22 minutes in Sardinia.
The youngster’s celebration after scoring, however, infuriated the Sardinian crowd who had jeered the teenager throughout after he was booked for diving in the first half.
During the match, Kean, along with his French teammate Blaise Matuidi and Brazilian Alex Sandro, had been targeted by monkey noises, but these increased in intensity after the second goal.
Kean celebrated with his hands outstretched in front of the Cagliari fans after scoring.
But Bonucci claimed that Kean should not have provoked the home supporters and said his teammate was partly to blame for the unsavoury scenes.
“Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he should celebrate that with his teammates. He knows he could have done something differently too,” Bonucci said.
“There were racist jeers after the goal, Blaise heard it and was angered. I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn’t have done that and the Curva (Cagliari fans) should not have reacted that way,” he added. “We are professionals, we have to set the example and not provoke anyone.”
Cagliari fans appeared to throw objects at Kean, and the match was momentarily stopped and an appeal made over the speakers, while Matuidi reacting furiously to the jeers at the same stadium where he was targeted last season.
The abuse came on the day that UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said he will ask referees to stop matches in the future when there is racist chanting.
“As usual, there are some idiots, but also normal people,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. “We have cameras, we identify and ban them.”
Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini, however, blamed Kean for stirring up tensions.
“If (Federico) Bernardeschi had done what Kean did, the reaction would have been the same,” said Giulini. “Nobody had heard anything up to that point. Kean made a mistake, he’s 19, that’s understandable,” he added, saying he ‘mostly heard whistles’.
“There is a drift towards self-righteousness that I don’t like, this club has always been exemplary and has always denounced racist behavior,” he added.
The win put Juventus back 18 points clear of second-placed Napoli, who travel to lowly Empoli Wednesday, with only eight matches to play.
AFP