Social media has reacted in disgust and disbelief after several media outlets seemingly made England forward Bukayo Saka the scapegoat for the team’s 1-0 defeat against Iceland. The friendly before England’s first official match against Serbia led to the team being booed at Wembley. Many believed that this would be an easy win for England against Iceland who are currently ranked 72^ndin the world.

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However, many social media users were taken aback to see Saka becoming the face of the defeat, despite only coming onto the pitch as a substitute for 25 minutes. The 22-year-old was the central image for The Sun, The Telegraph and BBC Sport front pages. Many of our Residents were quick to come to the defence of Saka, pointing out that his fellow teammates such as Phil Foden and captain Harry Kane had played the full 90 minutes. However, they were exempt from the face of the backlash.

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An impassioned user wrote a lengthy dedication to the Arsenal star branding the media's work as "A DISGRACE" -

Another kept their criticism short stating - "It's happening guys, we are not going to let them run with this AGAIN" -

One Resident wrote on our Instagram page: “Phil Foden played the full 90 minutes and Cole Palmer played for 77 minutes. Yet it’s Saka who came on at 65 minutes the media put front and centre. This isn’t a conspiracy; it’s blatant racism by the English media. If you can’t see it, maybe you have a problem.”

Another added: “They know the outrage will get them engagement. It’s happening too much not to seethe pattern.” A third chimed in: “It’s more sad that I’m not shocked. It’s actually become normal to me.”

In 2022, Saka along with teammates Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were the subject to horrific racial abuse after missing a decisive penalty against Italy in the Euro Finals. This led to nationwide for the youngsters with many of the public calling for their to be immediate change and action taken against fans who tweet such hate.