Manchester United’s players have rallied around Paul Pogba after the midfielder suffered vile racial abuse on social media following his missed penalty against Wolves on Monday.
After what can only be described as a turbulent summer surrounding the future of the £89 million man, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has consistently insisted that Pogba’s future remains at Manchester United, with the midfielder starting both of their opening two Premier League fixtures.
The Frenchman bagged two assists in the 4-0 win over Chelsea, and won his side a penalty against in Monday’s 1-1 draw at Molineux. While Marcus Rashford took a penalty in last week’s win, the Frenchman decided he was going to take this one against Wolves, although his well-hit strike was smartly saved by Rui Patricio, prompting a backlash from fans and pundits alike.
While Gary Neville has been particularly scathing of the 26-year-old’s decision to take the penalty – even though he was the clubs regular penalty taker last season – some so-called fans took the criticism to disgusting levels, racially abusing the former Juventus midfielder.
Manchester United have reaffirmed that they will have a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to any form of discrimination, and Pogba’s United teammates have taken to social media themselves to rally around him, with Harry Maguire suggesting drastic action is taken by the social networks to try to bring an end to ‘pathetic trolls’.
Here is how the Man Utd players reacted.
As a captain, teammate and athlete: There’s no room for racism or discrimination https://t.co/cyDwyMshis
— David de Gea (@D_DeGea) August 20, 2019
Enough is enough. Sort it out @Twitter https://t.co/q7Lsusby4b
— Aaron Wan-Bissaka (@awbissaka) August 20, 2019
Disgusting. Social media need to do something about it… Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people. @Twitter @instagram https://t.co/bzow073aTw
— Harry Maguire (@HarryMaguire93) August 20, 2019
Manchester United is a family. @paulpogba is a huge part of that family. You attack him you attack us all… @ManUtd https://t.co/PgalnFQMeu
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) August 20, 2019
Completely agree! This can’t carry on. We’re all with you @paulpogba! ❤️ https://t.co/x1N4QDK2V4
— Jesse Lingard (@JesseLingard) August 20, 2019
Sadly, the incident is not the first example of Premier League stars being racially abused, with Raheem Sterling having long been the victim of disgraceful comments, while just last week, Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham was also on the receiving end of abhorrent abuse after he missed the decisive penalty for the Blues in the UEFA Super Cup final.
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See also – Solskjaer explains Pogba-Rashford penalty-taking decision
