Antoine Semenyo racially abused on Instagram after Manchester City win over Chelsea

London – Manchester City’s 3-0 Premier League victory at Chelsea on Sunday should have been a moment of unbridled celebration for Antoine Semenyo, the £64 million January signing who continues to justify Pep Guardiola’s faith with every start. Instead, the Ghana international was forced to confront the sport’s ugliest stain after revealing he had been targeted with vile racial abuse on Instagram in the aftermath of the win.

Semenyo, 26, lined up in Guardiola’s attack at Stamford Bridge and played a key role as City ruthlessly capitalised on Arsenal’s earlier slip-up against Bournemouth, trimming the gap at the top to six points with a game in hand. The forward’s seamless integration into the champions’ fluid front line has lightened the creative load that once rested almost exclusively on Erling Haaland, and alongside fellow January arrival Marc Guehi—who scored against Chelsea—he has become one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Yet within hours of the final whistle, a celebratory post on Semenyo’s Instagram account was met with a torrent of racist language. The player shared the offending comment to his story on Monday evening, exposing the abuse to a wider audience and reigniting a debate that English football has been unable to outrun. Neither City nor the social-media platform have released an immediate statement on the matter, but the incident follows a grim pattern: in 2018-19, former City winger Raheem Sterling was racially abused by Chelsea supporters inside Stamford Bridge, an episode that ended with lifetime bans for the perpetrators.

For Semenyo, the episode is a stark reminder that progress on the pitch is not always mirrored in the digital stands. It is unlikely to be the first time he has encountered such hostility, yet the casual frequency with which players of colour still receive abuse remains the most troubling metric of all. Guardiola’s squad, renowned for its multicultural makeup, is expected to rally around the forward as he prepares to retain his place for Sunday’s potential title-decider against Arsenal at the Etihad.

City’s footballing narrative this week should centre on a six-point swing and the tantalising prospect of a season-defining clash with the Gunners. Instead, the conversation has shifted to the responsibility of social-media companies to police their platforms and the broader football community to ensure that racism is never treated as routine. Until that responsibility is met, players like Antoine Semenyo will continue to shoulder a burden no amount of transfer fees or goals should ever necessitate.