Man City release statement after alleged racist abuse during Everton draw

Manchester City duo Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi were subject to alleged racist abuse during and following the Premier League draw at Everton on Monday

Manchester City have released a statement to condemn allaged racist abuse directed at Antoine Semenyo following Monday’s 3-3 draw against Everton.

City also took aim at online abuse of Semenyo’s City team-mate Marc Guehi.

A statement from City on Tuesday afternoon read: “Manchester City strongly condemns the racist abuse directed towards Antoine Semenyo at yesterday’s match.

“We welcome the swift action taken by Everton and the police to identify the individual responsible.

“We are also incredibly disappointed to hear that Marc Guehi was subject to a series of vile racist social media posts last night.

“We will continue to offer our full support to both Antoine and Marc and never accept discrimination of any kind in our game.”

City’s statement came after Everton said the police have arrested a supporter, 71, on suspicion of directing racist abuse at Semenyo during the game.

A statement from the Toffees read: “Everton Football Club can confirm that a supporter was arrested during Monday evening’s 3-3 Premier League draw with Manchester City at Hill Dickinson Stadium following reports of racist abuse directed towards an opposition player.

“Merseyside Police arrested a 71-year-old man on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after supporters and stewards reported the incident.

“He has since been bailed with conditions, including restrictions preventing him from going within one mile of any designated sports stadium for a period of up to four hours before kick-off, during matches and up to four hours after the final whistle.

“Racism and discrimination in all forms are completely unacceptable. They have no place in our stadia, our sport or in society, and behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated.

“A swift response from fellow supporters, stewards and Merseyside Police led to the individual being identified and appropriate action taken. The club will continue to work closely with the authorities to support their investigation and will take the strongest possible action in line with its zero-tolerance approach.”

Pep Guardiola’s side needed a dramatic 97th minute equaliser from Jeremy Doku to salvage a point in a dramatic six-goal thriller at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

City had controlled the first half and went into the break with a 1-0 advantage thanks to an inch-perfect strike from Doku. However, Guardiola’s men conceded after a mistake from Guehi allowed Thierno Barry in to level before Jake O’Brien gave Everton the lead and Barry added his second to make it 3-1.

Despite that, City ended up fighting back to secure a draw with Erling Haaland pulling one back with his 25th league goal of the season before Doku scored his second of the evening as he wrapped a shot into the top corner.

It’s a result that has damaged City’s hopes of winning the Premier League title and has given Arsenal a huge lift ahead of the run-in, with the Gunners, who albeit have played a game more, now leading by five points.

Speaking post-match, Guardiola said: “We take the point and until it’s over, we’re going to continue. It’s better than a loss. We played to win. It just shows what the team are. We tried and we have done it.

“It’s not in our hands. Before it was in our hands. Now, no. We have to do it in our four games that we have in the Premier League. It will be quite similar against Brentford. We will see what happens.”