Racism cannot be tolerated, asserts Fred

The Manchester Derby lived up to its expectations giving drama and great football to the fans as it saw Manchester United shocking the reigning champions Manchester City at Etihad stadium. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men secured a convincing 2-1 victory over the Citizens after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

For the majority of the game, the blue side of Manchester tried to reduce the deficit and in the 85th minute, Nicolas Otamendi grabbed a goal back. The loss now leaves last season's treble winners 14 points off leaders Liverpool, who have won 15 of their 16 games this term. City also trails Leicester by 3 points, but the difference could extend to 6 points when the Foxes play Aston Villa on Sunday. 

During the game, Fred and Jesse Lingard were subjected to racism as one of the home fans made repeated monkey gestures towards the United duo. Manchester City have pledged to issue a lifetime ban to "anyone found guilty of racist abuse" and released a statement confirming that after men in red said they were targeted during Saturday's derby.

The incident happened when Fred went to take a corner in the second half and the Brazilian was subjected to a barrage of objects being thrown at him. That saw the game stop with the incident happening soon after that and in an interview, the former Manchester City target said it was a shame that such incidents still happen despite the world being in the 21st century.

“We are still in a backward society. Unfortunately, this is happening in some stadiums. It happened here, it happened in Ukraine with some friends. It's sad, but we have to keep our heads up and forget about that. We can't give them any attention because that's all they want. I spoke to the referee after the match, they will do something about it and that's all,” said the ex Shaktar Donetsk midfielder.

Manchester City were quick to respond after the racism row and gave assurances that the guilty party will be punished and released a statement mere minutes after the game. The statement promised to issue a ban on entry in the Etihad for life and revealed that the Cityzens are working with Greater Manchester Police to help them identify any individuals who were involved.