Adana Demirspor’s Technical Director, Vincenzo Montella has come out in support of Nigerian winger Henry Onyekuru after his own club fans whistled him on Saturday.
Onyekuru featured for 24 minutes as Adana Demirspor crushed Kasimpasa 5-0 in a Super Lig clash, where Nigerian winger Babajide David notched two of the goals.
A jubilant home crowd, however, turned hostile immediately after the encounter when they saw Onyekuru stroll to attend to media duties pitch-side.
Their anger apparently stemmed from images circulated last week of Onyekuru mingling with Galatasaray players shortly after the league leaders defeated Adana 2-0 on April 1st.
Onyekuru previously spent three loan spells at Gala and still has many friends at the club, where he won a league and cup double.
But some Adana Demirspor fans care for none of that and have quickly forgotten Onyekuru’s contribution of six goals and one assist to their sensational season.
There are already talks that the club will no longer make the loan deal of the Olympiakos-owned attacker permanent following the incident.
Still, several supporters are far from being appeased, and they made their displeasures known by whistling Onyekuru endlessly.
Former Roma man Vincenzo Montella has, however, expressed his disappointment with the fans’ behaviour and urged them to refrain from such actions in the future.
Speaking to the media after the match, Montella acknowledged Onyekuru’s emotional nature but emphasized that the player had acted in good faith.
“I don’t want it to happen again,” an upset Montella said of the fans whistling at Onyekuru. “He is an emotional athlete. And he acted in good faith.”
Onyekuru joined Adana Demirspor on loan from Greek giants Olympiakos last summer and has been one of the team’s key players as they sit fourth on the Super Lig table with a European qualification spot increasingly looking within reach.
