Racist insults from some Juventus fans were seemingly behind Romelu Lukaku’s goal celebration, which saw the Inter striker sent off in the Coppa Italia semi-final.
There was a fiery end to Juventus-Inter at the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday, with players clashing inside the pitch before and after the final whistle.
The brawl erupted with Lukaku’s goal celebration after the Belgian had converted a spot kick in the stoppages. Big Rom was shown a second yellow card and was therefore sent off.
The 29-year-old had been introduced from the bench in the second half. He looked as aggressive as ever and probably wanted to redeem himself after a disappointing performance against Fiorentina on Saturday. However, he immediately collected a yellow card for a rough tackle on Federico Gatti.
That’s where the trouble began. Lukaku was targeted by insulting chants from Juventus fans in the Curva Sud immediately after receiving his first yellow card and a few made monkey noises.
This is a reason why the Belgian forward celebrated his late equaliser by putting his finger in front of his nose, silencing Juventus’ Curva Sud and causing a brawl with the Bianconeri players. It is worth highlighting, however, that Lukaku had celebrated the same way during the international break, precisely in a game with Sweden where he scored a hat-trick.
“Clearly, we sensed that [racist insults], but I go beyond that and see a player who scores, celebrates and it all happened from there,” Inter coach Inzaghi told Mediaset after the final whistle.
“Now I have to be clear-minded and think that Lukaku’s celebration, which he always does like that, robs us of an important player. The game had been very calm and fair until the 95th minute.”