Daily Archives: December 23, 2019

Romelu Lukaku reveals warning Cristiano Ronaldo gave him before signing for Inter Milan, compares Premier League, Serie A

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Romelu Lukaku has revealed the warning Juventus talisman Cristiano Ronaldo gave him about Serie A, stating how tough the league is.

The Inter Milan striker gave an interview to the New York Times on Monday, in which he gave his opinion on playing in Serie A compared to the Premier League.

Lukaku scored 14 goals in 22 games for Inter in the first half of the season, 12 of which came in Serie A.

However, he told the newspaper: “He [Ronaldo] told me this is the hardest defensive League in the world.

“He said he has scored goals everywhere, but this was the toughest place to do it, and if Cristiano Ronaldo think it’s difficult, then it must be really difficult.”

That echoes the claims of former Serie A hitmen Carlos Tevez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who have relayed similar sentiments in recent years, report Football Italia.

Ronaldo’s scoring rate has also dropped in Italy, with last season his lowest in terms of goals (28) since the 2008-09 campaign.

“It’s harder than England. The football is more intense there, but here everything is pattern of play.”

Off the field, the 26-year-old has an extraordinary ability to assimilate to a language quickly, becoming a proficient Italian speaker in only a matter of weeks.

“Nobody speaks to me in English anymore.”

Chelsea fan arrested for racial abuse aimed at Tottenham star

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There are reports in England that a Chelsea fan has been arrested for alleged racial abuse aimed at Spurs forward Son Heung-min.

Chelsea’s 2-0 win against Spurs was marred by accusations of racism, with Antonio Rudiger informing officials that he had heard monkey chants from the crowd in the second-half of the match.

Son was sent off midway through the second-half for violent conduct against Rudiger.

Tottenham said they would take the strongest possible action against anyone found guilty of racist abuse.

The Metropolitan Police said that it was aware of the allegations taking place during the Premier League fixture, report Daily Express.

The Police will now work with the two clubs to find the supporters responsible for the abuse.

A spokesman for the Met said: “Police were made aware of alleged racist chanting during the second half of the Tottenham vs Chelsea match on Sunday 22 December.

“Officers will work with the club in an attempt to identify any people responsible.”

No players were aware of the abuse aimed at Son during the match, it’s believed.

But, fellow Chelsea supporters reported the incident when they heard the apparent abuse within the away end.

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

Tammy Abraham reveals what Lampard said to inspire Chelsea players to beat Tottenham

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Tammy Abraham has revealed that the Blues boss Frank Lampard’s passionate pre-game tub-thumping inspired Chelsea to a stunning derby victory at Tottenham.

The Blues produced one of their best performances of the season as two goals from WIllian secured a 2-0 win in North London.

Abraham explained: “At the beginning of the game he said he has always loved this rivalry between Chelsea and Tottenham and if he could, he would have stepped onto that pitch and played.

“He just asked and wanted us to go out there and leave everything on that pitch.

“And from minute one that is what we showed.”

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

Antonio Rudiger opens up on racist abuse he suffered against Tottenham, says “a couple of idiots were the offenders”

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Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has dismissed the idea of blaming Tottenham Hotspur for the incident and called for those who made monkey noises to be punished.

During the match, which was won by the visitors Chelsea by 2-0, Tottenham broadcast a message to warn fans three times that the game was at risk of being abandoned if there were any further examples of racism during the match.

According to the German, in a four-part thread on his official Twitter account, it was “just a couple of idiots were the offenders.”

The 26-year-old called for the authorities to study the TV footage and CCTV at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to find the people who abused him so that they can be handed over to the police.

“It is really sad to see racism again at a football match, but I think it’s very important to talk about it in public,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “If not, it will be forgotten again in a couple of days (as always).

“I don’t want to involve Tottenham as an entire club into this situation as I know that just a couple of idiots were the offenders. I got a lot of supportive messages on social media from Spurs fans as well in the last hours – thank you a lot for this.

“I really hope that the offenders will be found and punished soon, and in such a modern football ground like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with dozens of TV and security cameras, it must be possible to find and subsequently punish them.

“If not, then there must have been witnesses in the stadium who saw and heard the incident. It’s just such a shame that racism still exists in 2019. When will this nonsense stop?”

Football.london reports that bodies including the Professional Footballers’ Association have already responded to what happened during the match by calling for a government investigation into racism in football.

On Sky Sports, Ashley Cole spoke about his own experiences of racism as a player while Gary Neville and Graeme Souness spoke with anger over the state of the game and its problems with racism among fans.

Photo Credit: premierleague.com