Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen said he has received death threats directed at him and his family after he was headbutted by Liverpool‘s Darwin Nunez in Monday’s Premier League 1-1 draw which resulted in the striker being sent off at Anfield.
The striker was shown a straight red card after headbutting Andersen in the second half with Liverpool trailing following Wilfried Zaha‘s strike.
The hosts managed to salvage a point after Luis Dias‘ stunning equaliser but the result leaves Liverpool winless after two games — down in 12th place — and fans vented their frustration by contacting Andersen on Instagram, where he highlighted the abusive messages he had received.
“Got maybe 3-400 of these messages last night. I understand you support a team but have some respect and stop [acting] tough online,” Andersen said before sharing screenshots of abuse and death threats in his inbox.
“Hope Instagram and the Premier League do something about this.”
Reuters has contacted Instagram for comment.
Meanwhile, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has urged Nunez to learn from his mistake following the sending off on his home debut.
“He has to control himself, definitely,” Van Dijk told reporters after the game. “He has to manage himself. He has to be knowing that these things can happen, especially in the Premier League.
“It will be a learning curve for him and hopefully it will never happen again. Obviously he was disappointed and also probably with himself.
“But it’s a learning curve and we will always back him. He’s got the backing from us and he knows it should not happen again and hopefully it will be that way.”
Nunez, who joined from Benfica for an initial fee of €75 million, will be suspended for three games and will miss Liverpool’s clash at Manchester United next week.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who had hit back at Nunez’s critics before the game, is now facing a striker crisis with Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota already missing through injury.
“It’s really tricky in a moment with injuries and players with little things and how you manage them and all those kinds of things,” Klopp said in his postmatch interview.
“We have to use the next week to maybe bring one or two back. I’m not sure if we can do that. But now we lost Darwin today. That doesn’t help. Bobby [Firmino] might be ready for next week,” he added.
Information from Reuters was included in this report.