Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga receives online racist abuse after penalty miss in FA cup defeat

Manchester United lost the game 8-7 on penalties in the tie against Middlesbrough

Anthony Elanga missed a critical penalty in the FA Cup tie (PA Wire)

Manchester United rising star Anthony Elanga has received racist abuse online after his penalty miss in the FA Cup fourth round defeat to Middlesbrough on Friday night.

The game went to penalties at Old Trafford after the two teams couldn’t be separated following 120 minutes of football.

After the penalties entered sudden death, 19-year-old Anthony Elanga missed his spot kick sending Manchester United out of the tournament.

After the game, Aberdeen striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas tweeted screenshots to highlight the racist abuse Elanga received on Instagram and said “Sooo easy to predict…”

A spokesperson for Meta, the company which owns popular social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, said it has already removed a number of comments on Elanga's Instagram page.

Elanga, visibly upset after the critical miss was consoled by United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, who also missed a penalty in the first half of the game.

Marcus Rashford also came to the support of his teammate writing on Twitter last night: “Anthony Elanga. Get that head of yours up immediately.”

Troy Townsend, head of Player Engagement at Football’s equality and inclusion organisation Kick It Out, tweeted: “A spokesperson for Instagram said, it has already removed a number of comments and its investigation is ongoing. Blah, blah, blah

“Rolling out the obligatory statement to appease who??”

Manchester United players Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe have also been subject to racist abuse in the last 12 months in addition to a number of other black players across the country.

United teammates Marcus Rashford and Sancho were - along with Arsenal player Bukayo Saka - subject to sickening racist abuse after their penalty misses for England at Euro 2020 raising criticism of efforts by social media platforms to regulate online racial abuse.

The 19-year-old forward has made nine appearances this season, eight of which have come under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who has repeatedly shown faith in the youngster and been rewarded with goals and a series of energetic displays.

The Independent approached Greater Manchester Police for comment