Arsenal to investigate racist abuse of Newcastle players Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock | OneFootball

Alex Young @alexwsyoung

Arsenal also vowed to punish any fans found to have sent racist abuse to Newcastle players Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock on social media following Saturday's 1-0 win over Arsenal.

The Gunners' unbeaten start to the season was ended at St James' Park thanks to Anthony Gordon's controversial second-half winner, in which former Arsenal player Willock played a key role.

Willock revealed the abuse he had been sent on Instagram and urged the platform to find those responsible.

"Newcastle United strongly condemns racist abuse sent to Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock via social media following Saturday's victory over Arsenal," a Newcastle statement read.

"Our message is clear. There is no room for racism in football or society.

"We are providing support to Bruno and Joe and will work with relevant authorities and social media platforms to identify those responsible so that they can be held to account."

An Arsenal statement read: "We condemn all forms of discrimination and take a zero tolerance approach. We will apply the strongest possible action to anyone we can identify sending hateful messages."

Kick It Out said in a statement: "We send our support to Newcastle's Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes after they became the latest players to be targeted with disgusting racial abuse on social media.

"Sadly, this has been an almost weekly occurrence this season, and the costs on players' mental health are huge. That is why the new Online Safety Act must click into gear as soon as possible so that players are better protected.