Joachim Andersen reveals vile messages of abuse
Crystal Palace defender Joachim Anderson has revealed online abuse he received after his role in Darwin Nunez’s sending off on Monday night.
In a post on his Instagram story, the 26-year-old said: ‘Got maybe 3-400 of these messages last night. I understand you support a team but have some respect and stop act tough online.’
He then shared the messages of abuse he has received, in which he was branded a ‘f****** disgrace’, and a ‘cheating b******’, while others said they ‘hoped his plane crashed’ or that his family died.
In a final post, Andersen called on Instagram and the Premier League to ‘do something about this.’
The messages came after the defender had got under Nunez’s skin all evening on Monday night with tight marking and the occasional shove.
Nunez became visibly frustrated with the defender as the game progressed, eventually reacting with a headbutt in the 57th minute that saw him sent off.
‘The whole game I sat really close to him, I annoyed him a lot and did well against him, Anderson told Viaplay after the game.
‘I think that’s why he was a little bit angry with me. In that situation, he headbutted me, the first one, at a cross, and I told him he shouldn’t do that.
‘I was angry with him. Then he did it again which is, for me, really stupid. A clear red card.’
In reaction the red card, Virgil van Dijk said after the game: ‘He has to control himself, definitely. He has to manage himself, knowing that these things can happen, especially in the Premier League.
‘He’s got the backing from us and he knows it should not happen again and hopefully it will be that way.
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‘He was disappointed and also probably with himself. But it’s a learning curve and obviously we will always back him. Hopefully it will never happen again.’
Nunez will now serve a three match ban, which will cause real issues for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp as Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota are both currently unavailable due to injury.