Bonucci: 'Kean blame for racist abuse'

By Football Italia staff

Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci claimed Moise Kean had to shoulder “50-50 blame” for racist abuse from Cagliari fans.

The striker scored in the final minutes at the Sardegna Arena and his celebration saw him stand in front of the ultras behind the goal, hands outstretched, almost challenging those who had jeered him.

That prompted even louder and far clearer racist abuse, which before that had been from only a handful of fans.

Bonucci ran over and was one of the first on the scene trying to pull Kean away, while Blaise Matuidi was visibly furious.

“Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he has to focus on celebrating with his teammates. He knows he could’ve done something differently too,” Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia.

“There were racist jeers after the goal, Blaise heard it and was angered. I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn’t have done that and the Curva should not have reacted that way.

“We are professionals, we have to set the example and not provoke anyone.

“I prefer to talk about the great performance. We were aggressive on the wings, as we knew they could cause problems with crosses.

“We knew Cagliari do zonal marking and leave that gap open, so we’d practiced in training yesterday and it worked out perfectly.”

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