Axel Tuanzebe was a victim of racial abuse after Manchester United were stunned by Sheffield United 2-1 in the Premier League on Thursday, January 27.
When Manchester United hosted Sheffield United, most football fans thought it would be an easy ride for the in-form United side but the reverse was the case.
For the first time in 10 Premier League games, Manchester United suffered a defeat; unfortunately for United, they had to fall to lowly rated Sheffield United side that managed to record just a win so far this season before they visited Old Trafford on Thursday.
Sheffield United came into the game with a clear intention to cause an upset even though Manchester United enjoyed the most of the possession. Before the end of the 23rd minute in the first half, Sheffield United have already scored a goal through a header from Kean Bryan.
Surprisingly to the followers of the game, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his boys could not break through the defense of their visitors throughout the first half. The second half resumed like how the first half ended. United continued to be with the ball but couldn’t do much with it.
It took the effort of the club’s captain and defender Harry Maguire to go past Sheffield United’s defense and score with his head in the 64th minute. As United was battling to score the winning goal, the hearts of Manchester United’s fans were broken when Sheffield United’s substitute Oliver Burke plays a shot in the direction of United’s post which Axel Tuanzebe deflected into the net in the 74th minute.
A big 3 points. 🙌
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) January 28, 2021
All the highlights from our 2-1 win over Man United. pic.twitter.com/spWvWZHpWC
A disappointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided to substitute Axel Tuanzebe in the 82nd minute for a more attacking-minded player Donny van de Beek. But the removal of the 23-year-old English center-back could not change anything as the match ended 2-1 in favor of Sheffield United.
The defeat forced Manchester United to drop from the first spot on the league table to the second spot with 40 points in 20 league games, a point behind first-place Manchester City.
After the game, some aggrieved fans of Manchester United stormed an Instagram post Axel Tuanzebe shared few days before Manchester United vs Sheffield league match. They bombarded the post with racial comments using emojis.
It was reported that Tuanzebe was also racially abused on Twitter to the extent he had to delete his Twitter handle. Also, Manchester United and French striker Anthony Martial who played 90 minutes in the game against Sheffield without much impact, was said to be a victim of a racial attack on social media after the game.
However, as of the time of publishing this report, Manchester United, Axel Tuanzebe, or Martial was yet to make any official reaction over the racial attacks.
