Juventus winger Douglas Costa has apoligised for the spitting incident that led to his red card in yesterday’s match against Sassuolo. Costa came on as a substitute for Mario Mandzukic in the 61st minute. Juventus were already leading 1-0 when Costa came on. They got the lead in the 50th minute thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo who netted his first goal for the Bianconeri.
Four minutes after Costa came on, Ronaldo added a second to double Juve’s lead. During the dying moments of the match, Sassuolo pulled one back thanks to substitute Khouma Babacar. Shortly after Babacar’s goal, Costa spit on Sassuolo winger Federico di Francesco before headbutting him. Coincidentally, di Francesco also came on as a substitute in the 61st minute.
Nevertheless, the assistant referee reviewed the incident and subsequently, Costa got a second yellow and his marching orders. Costa received a booking earlier for elbowing di Francesco.
Following the match, Douglas Costa released a statement on Instagram apologising for the incident. The statement read, “I would like to apologise to all Juventus fans for this misleading reaction in today’s game. I also apologise to my team-mates, who are always with me in beautiful and bad moments. It was ugly, I am aware of it and I apologise to everyone for this. I make it clear that this isolated attitude does not correspond to what I have always shown in my career.”
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri criticised the Brazilian for ‘falling for provocation’. Allegri said, “Maybe he was irritated at a foul before, but it doesn’t matter, because this absolutely must not happen. The one thing we must avoid doing is falling for provocation.”
Juventus next play Valencia in their Champions League opener on Wednesday.
