Bees striker Toney racially abused following his two-goal masterclass
Ivan Toney has revealed he was racially abused after starring in Brentford’s victory over Brighton on Friday.
Toney scored both goals in Brentford’s 2-0 Premier League win, and on Saturday morning shared screenshots of an offensive Instagram direct message.
“I wasn’t even going to post this, but I woke up angry,” Toney wrote on his Twitter account.
It is not the first time Toney has spoken out about racial abuse, with him and Brentford team-mate Rico
Henry taking to social media to say that their families were targeted after the Bees won 3-2 at Everton in May. Brentford issued a statement on Saturday, calling on the police, legal authorities and Instagram’s parent company to bring the person involved to justice for a “despicable hate crime”.
“Last night, Ivan Toney was subjected to disgusting, racist abuse via a direct message received on social media,” the statement read.
“We condemn this discriminatory behaviour in the strongest terms.
“An attack on one of our players is an attack on all of us. Ivan will receive the full backing from the club and from the Brentford fans who we have already seen condemning the abuse.
“We expect strong support from the police, legal authorities and from Instagram’s parent company, Meta, to ensure that the individual involved faces the full force of the law for this despicable hate crime.”
The Premier League also issued a statement condemning the abuse
directed at Toney and will support Brentford’s investigation.
“No one should have to face abuse of the kind received by Ivan Toney. It has no place in football or society,” the statement read.
“We are supporting Ivan and the club with investigations.”
Later on Saturday, Toney posted a further message looking to focus on what was another fine display by the forward, who further staked his claim for inclusion in England’s World Cup squad.
Under a picture of him celebrating one of his strikes against Brighton, Toney wrote: “On a positive note. 3 points 2 goals Enjoy your weekend.”
Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch believes Arsenal are genuine title contenders and that Mikel Arteta is the most under-rated manager in the Premier League.
The Gunners are top of the table after winning eight of their first nine games and head to Elland Road on Sunday to face Marsch’s Leeds, who are winless in five.
With just a quarter of the season played, Marsch has already seen enough to rate Arteta’s side as serious challengers for Manchester City’s crown.
The Leeds head coach said: “You’d have to say yes.
“They’ve looked very strong and they’ve recently played a bit against good opponents as well.
“I always like it when teams and coaches improve and grow together and that’s definitely something that’s happened at Arsenal, a club that looked like they weren’t going to be so strong about five or six years ago.
“Now all of a sudden, to be back at the top of the table and playing the football that they’re playing, it says a lot about the commitment that they’ve made as a club to find a process and stick to it.”
Arteta was installed by Arsenal at the end of 2019 and Marsch has been striving to lay similar foundations for success at Leeds since replacing Marcelo Bielsa in February.
Both managers have had to shoulder criticism from sections of their club’s fans, while Marsch hopes he too is given time to get it right.
The American said: “Mikel Arteta has done an absolutely amazing job. I think he’s the most underrated manager in the league.
“With a young team, he’s built this up to be really complex, stable, I think exciting to watch.
“He’s done an amazing job and it’s taken him time.
“He took a lot of heat in the beginning, but I think now you see the fruits of his labour and the fruits of their labour.”