Manchester United and Brazilian midfielder, Fred was racially abused after the club’s 4-2 defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Thursday.
Liverpool were at Old Trafford to play the return leg of this season’s Premier League campaign. For the first time since 2014, the Merseyside club succeeded in defeating the Red Devils at home.
One of the players in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s starting eleven for the game whose performance was not up to expectation was Fred. Most of the club’s fans thought that the coach didn’t suppose to start him.
The aspect of the game which confirmed that the 28-year-old Brazilian midfielder didn’t suppose to start the game was how he was unable to stop the flow of Liverpool’s attack in most parts of the game.
It became so bad that Manchester United conceded three goals under his watch. Hence, coach Solskjaer had to substitute him in the 63rd minute for Mason Greenwood.
Though his removal from the game only earned Manchester United a goal in the 68th minute, his team went on to record a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
After the game, some fans of the club took to social media to racially abuse him. It was reported that some of the fans sent racial comments under an Instagram post he shared on Sunday, May 9, after United’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
A check on the Instagram post showed that the comments have been removed but the attack on him on Thursday made it the second time this season he has been subjected to racial abuse. Recall that he was a victim of a racist attack after Leicester City knocked out Manchester United in the quarter-final stage of the FA Cup on March 21, 2021.
Fred is one of the numerous Manchester United players that have been racially abused this season. Other players that have suffered racist attacks at the club include: Marcus Rashford, Axel Tuanzebe, and Anthony Martial, and Manchester United Women’s Lauren James have also been targeted for online racist abuse this season.
Meanwhile, a law enforcement agency has arrested two people involved in a protest during the league match between Manchester United and Liverpool on Thursday.
The match was played under tight security following the protest that forced the game to be postponed to May 13 from May 2. Recall that ahead of the initially scheduled game, Manchester United’s fans invaded Old Trafford to call for the resignation of the Grazers family, the owners of the club.
The fan’s agitation against the family was ignited when the owners signed up the club for the failed European Super League.
To avoid the repetition of such a protest, security operatives were deployed to the stadium ahead of the postponed match. Despite that, some fans of the club made it to the stadium premises to continue with the protest. Two of them were arrested by Manchester police.
A police statement read: “We are aware of a protest currently taking place outside Old Trafford football stadium, with a small number of people seem intent on disrupting the fixture.
“Officers are in attendance to maintain safety while facilitating the right to peaceful protest. Two arrests have been made relating to public order offenses.”
