Lukaku abused in Cagliari

Romelu Lukaku suffered racist abuse as he hit the winning penalty for Inter Milan in their 2-1 win at Cagliari.

The former Manchester United striker, who moved to Italy this summer, was the target of monkey chants from the home supporters as he stepped up to shoot.

The sickening scenes come just five months after Moise Kean was also the victim of racist chants while playing for Juventus at the same ground. That display of racism was made even more noteworthy by Kean’s then teammate Leonardo Bonucci reportedly claiming Kean, now at Everton, was partly responsible.

Kean, 19, spread his arms while facing the crowd after scoring Juve’s second goal in their 2-0 win, prompting Bonucci to say: “[Kean] could have done it differently” and “the blame is 50-50”. Bonucci later rowed back, saying: “I was interviewed right at the end of the game, and my words have been clearly misunderstood.”

The racist abuse directed at Lukaku will do little to help the image of both Cagliari and Italian football and attitudes towards monkey chants directed at black players. In the aftermath of the Kean incident, Kick It Out launched a blistering attack on the Italian Football Federation, saying there had been a “clear failure in process” and the game should have been abandoned.

The racist abuse understandably overshadowed the Inter Milan win, one that earned new coach Antonio Conte two victories from two at the start of the season.