ROMELU LUKAKU WAS subjected to racist abuse from Cagliari supporters but scored his second goal in two Serie A games for Inter as Antonio Conte’s men extended their winning start to the season with a 2-1 victory.
The €65million signing from Manchester United endured similar chants to those aimed at former Juventus striker Moise Kean last season while taking a penalty he converted to clinch three points for the visitors at the Sardegna Arena.
After a comfortable 4-0 win over Lecce in their opening game, the Nerazzurri came up against a stubborn Cagliari side bolstered by Inter loanee Radja Nainggolan, who gave his parent club no rest in midfield.
Lautaro Martinez partnered Lukaku in the Inter attack and he helped to distract from the ongoing uncertainty over Mauro Icardi’s future when he opened his account for 2019-20 in the 27th minute.
But the craft and endeavour Inter showed against Lecce was stemmed by Cagliari, who drew level through Joao Pedro five minutes into the second half.
The hosts looked set to earn a battling point until Fabio Pisacane conceded a penalty and Lukaku further endeared himself to the Inter faithful by burying it.
Lukaku held his nerve despite “monkey chants” emanating from the home supporters, coolly drilling the penalty kick into the bottom right corner of Robin Olsen’s net before defiantly turning to face in the direction of those who abused him.
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There is a team in Manchester who need a penalty taker !!
@Ciaran Larkin: says the man who was saying he was useless for about two years at united
@Alan Brazil: that doesn’t mean he’s wrong on this though.
What is almost commical in this is serie a have had the video of the racist chanting down for copyright yet not said a word about the racism itself. It is an issue in Italy but cagliari have long known for being some of the worst.
@Seamus Cummins: bit ironic that the Cagliari goalscorer is black, what lovely fans they are.