Neymar among 5 players sent off in brawl as Marseille beat PSG, Brazilian alleges racism

PSG superstar Neymar claimed that he was a victim of racial abuse during his side's 1-0 defeat against Marseille on Sunday night. The Brazilian attacker was one of five players sent off during an injury-time brawl at the Parc des Princes as Dario Benedetto and Jordan Amavi were shown red cards for the visitors. PSG's Layvin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes were also given their marching orders as the defending French champions lost the second of their opening two Ligue 1 games this season.  

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PSG vs Marseille red cards: Injury-time skirmish leads to five players being sent off

Florian Thauvin's close-range volley just past the half-hour mark ensured Marseille their first victory over bitter rivals PSG since November 2011 but an ugly scuffle at the end of the game resulted in referee Jerome Brisard brandishing five red cards at the Parc des Princes. The scenes that took place just before the final whistle made headlines as the camera's picked up Neymar slapping Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez on the back of his head after the pair exchanged a few words on the pitch. However, just a few seconds later a tussle between Dario Benedetto and Leandro Paredes escalated into an all-out brawl between players from both sides. 

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PSG's Layvin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes were given straight red cards for their involvement in the fight while Dario Benedetto and Jordan Amavi also received their marching orders for trading blows with the PSG stars. The referee then had a look at the VAR to review the incident and ended up brandishing a red card towards Neymar as well after spotting the Brazilian slapping Gonzalez on the back of his head. Neymar, who returned to PSG's starting line-up after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, was seen sarcastically clapping at the referee's decision to send him off before accusing his opponent of using a racial slur.

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Neymar Twitter rant: Brazilian makes racism claim

Following the PSG vs Marseille game which saw 14 yellow cards and five red cards dished out, a furious Neymar took to Twitter to express his anger at rampant racism in football. The 28-year-old urged the disciplinary board to take action against Gonzalez for his racist claims. The world's most expensive player added that the only regret he had was that he did not punch the Marseille defender in his face. However, the 30-year-old Spanish defender replied to Neymar's accusation and stated there is no racism involved, adding that sometimes players need to learn how to accept defeat. 

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Image Credits - AP