‘Have some respect’
Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen has received death threats and hundreds of abusive messages on social media after being head-butted by Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez on Monday night.
The Uruguayan, who arrived on Merseyside from Benfica in the summer, had grown increasingly frustrated by the close attention being paid to him by Andersen and his Palace teammates during the game at Anfield.
Just before the hour mark, with Liverpool trailing by a goal, he snapped, reacting angrily to a shove in the back by head-butting Andersen in the face.
Referee Paul Tierney had a clear view of the incident, showing him a red card.
A moment of madness from Darwin Núñez and he's shown a straight red card! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/YAErzuuUKq
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 15, 2022
On Tuesday morning, Andersen revealed on his Instagram story how he’d been flooded with abusive messages since the incident, sharing numerous examples.
These included threats to kill the 26-year-old and his family.
‘Got maybe 3-400 of these messages last night,’ he explained. ‘I understand you support a team but have some respect and stop act(ing) tough online.’
“The whole game I sat really close to him, I annoyed him a lot and did well against him,” Andersen said after full-time. “I think that’s why he was angry with me.
“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, is really stupid, so it’s a clear red card.”
Despite Nunez’s sending off, Liverpool were able to rescue a point from the game after Luis Diaz equalised minutes later with an effort from outside the area.
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