Daniel Munoz makes Instagram account private following controversial goal vs Liverpool

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Image Credits: Imago ImagesCrystal Palace arrived at Anfield on Saturday afternoon and left with a 3-1 defeat, but one moment from that game has dominated the conversation ever since, and not for the right reasons.Daniel Munoz, the Colombian right-back, scored a goal in the 71st minute that the laws of the game permitted but that the spirit of football would have rejected entirely.By Sunday, the fallout had gone well beyond the touchline. Munoz has made his Instagram account private after being flooded with hate messages and abuse from football supporters online.Liverpool goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, already deputising as the club’s third-choice keeper due to injuries to Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili, went down injured while making a save to deny Ismaila Sarr, catching his studs in the dry turf and hurting his knee.He raised his arm to signal for treatment.The ball broke to Munoz on the edge of the area, and the Palace right-back chipped it into an empty net.The goal stood at 2-1, and Anfield erupted, not in celebration, but in fury.Muñoz was booed loudly for the remainder of the match, subjected to chants calling him a cheat, and had an object thrown at the back of his head by a supporter as he prepared to take a throw-in.The atmosphere inside the ground was hostile in a way that went beyond the usual theatre of a top-flight occasion, and it was clear even then that the anger was not going to stay within the walls of Anfield.Arne Slot made his feelings about the referee perfectly clear after the game, arguing that the official should have stopped play the moment Woodman went down.He pointed to previous incidents this season where Liverpool had been on the wrong end of similar decisions, including the moment Alexis Mac Allister suffered a head injury against Manchester United and play was allowed to continue, leaving the midfielder needing five stitches.For Slot, Saturday was part of a pattern, and the referee was the primary target of his frustration rather than Muñoz himself.Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner acknowledged the controversy and revealed that his side had actually been discussing whether to deliberately give Liverpool a goal in response to the way Muñoz’s effort went in.Glasner indicated he would have ordered an own goal if Woodman had been forced off with a serious injury, though in the end the goalkeeper was able to continue after receiving treatment on the pitch.Woodman himself admitted he was unsure what to do in the moment, uncertain whether to stay down or get up and attempt to cover his goal.It was a chaotic few seconds, and there is a reasonable argument that Muñoz simply reacted instinctively before fully processing what was happening around him.Andy Robertson, who was closest to the incident, suggested afterwards that Muñoz may not even have seen the goalkeeper was down before he struck the ball.Liverpool won 3-1, Florian Wirtz added a late third to kill the game off, and the controversy ultimately cost the Reds nothing in terms of the result.But the abuse directed at Munoz since the final whistle has been severe enough to force him off social media entirely, and that is where this story becomes genuinely uncomfortable.What happened inside Anfield on Saturday was understandable in the heat of the moment.What has happened online since is not.Munoz scored a legal goal in a match his team lost by two goals.He does not deserve personal abuse for it, and the fact that he has had to hide from his own social media account to escape that abuse says a great deal about where a section of football’s online following currently sits.It is not a flattering picture for anyone involved.