Cagliari wins 1st home match since racist Lukaku chants

By: The Associated Press Posted: 4:08 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 20, 2019 Last Modified: 4:08 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 20, 2019

CAGLIARI, Italy - Playing at home for the first time since a match marred by racist chants, Cagliari beat Genoa 3-1 in Serie A on Friday.

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CAGLIARI, Italy - Playing at home for the first time since a match marred by racist chants, Cagliari beat Genoa 3-1 in Serie A on Friday.

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This article was published 20/09/2019 (2556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CAGLIARI, Italy – Playing at home for the first time since a match marred by racist chants, Cagliari beat Genoa 3-1 in Serie A on Friday.

There were no immediate reports of racist abuse at the match, before which anti-racism flyers were distributed to fans at the Sardegna Arena.

Giovanni Simeone opened the scoring for Cagliari, and Cristián Zapata restored the hosts’ advantage with an own goal after Christian Kouamé had equalized.

Cagliari's Giovanni Simeone, center, celebrates with his teammates after scoring the first goal of the game during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Genoa CFC at Sardegna Arena stadium in Cagliari, Sardinia island, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 (Fabio Murru/ANSA via AP)

João Pedro then finished off an uncontested counterattack in the 87th.

When Inter Milan beat Cagliari 2-1 on Sept. 1 with a decisive penalty kick by Romelu Lukaku, the Belgium striker — who is black — was met with monkey chants.

The monkey chants were audible on a video from the stands that was shared on social media. But the video was not admissible in the case and the Italian league judge decided this week that evidence from police was not deemed sufficient to punish Cagliari.

The Italian league also didn’t punish Cagliari for racist abuse aimed at Moise Kean, Blaise Matuidi and Sulley Muntari in recent seasons.

The anti-racism flyers distributed said: “Help us explain to whoever might betray our values that this can’t be their stadium.”

It also included a poem, “We are Sardinians,” written by Nobel Prize winner Grazia Deledda: “We’re Spanish, Africans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Pisans, Byzantines…”

Cagliari moved up to eighth place. Genoa is 12th.

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