Steven Gerrard has confirmed Liverpool will investigate claims Rhian Brewster was racially abused during their U19s win over Spartak Moscow.
The young Reds finished their UEFA Youth League group stage with a 2-0 victory at Prenton Park on Wednesday, through goals from Curtis Jones and George Johnston.
Brewster played the full 90 minutes in Tranmere, producing an impressive display leading the line alongside Jones and Bobby Adekanye.
But the 17-year-old’s afternoon was marred as he was dragged away by team-mates and members of Gerrard’s coaching staff at the final whistle.
The striker then spoke to referee Mohammed Al-Hakim regarding alleged racist abuse from a Spartak defender in the closing stages of the clash.
And speaking after the game, Gerrard said it was an issue the club would “look into,” though he turned the focus on Brewster’s strong performance.
“It’s difficult for me to comment on it right now. It’s something that the club will look into and deal with,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“I’d rather talk about Rhian Brewster‘s performance. I don’t want to take any gloss off that because he was superb.
“The only thing that was missing from his performance was a goal. He held the ball up so well and put in a shift for us.”
It is not the first time this season that a Liverpool player has endured racism in a UEFA Youth League appearance against Spartak.
Back in September, Adekanye was the subject of abuse from the stands during the U19s’ 2-1 loss in Moscow, with the Reds lodging a complaint to UEFA.
That saw Spartak charged for the third time in 2017/18, having been disciplined for crowd issues in their Champions League clashes with Maribor and Liverpool.
Their punishment for Adekanye’s treatment amounted to a slap on the wrist, with UEFA forcing them to leave 500 seats empty during their Youth League clash with Maribor last month.
UEFA ordered a banner, emblazoned with their logo and ‘#EqualGame’, to cover that area of the stand.
It remains to be seen whether UEFA will charge Spartak for Wednesday’s incident, but it is frustrating to see these issues persist.
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