Chelsea have condemned racist abuse aimed at their young players after their under-19 Uefa Youth League fixture against Qarabag in Baku had to be stopped because of an incident allegedly involving one home supporter on Wednesday.

The match was halted temporarily after an opening Chelsea goal from Sol Gordon in the 58th minute was followed by a home fan appearing to make racist gestures towards the Premier League club’s players. Eyewitnesses suggested monkey gestures and noises were made. After the match resumed at the Azersun Arena Chelsea went on to win 5-0.

A Chelsea spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident during today’s Uefa Youth League match in Azerbaijan in which, after scoring, a number of our players were subjected to racist abuse from an individual in the crowd.

“Racism and all forms of discriminatory behaviour are completely unacceptable and have no place in football or indeed in society. We strongly condemn the actions of the individual responsible.

“Our players have the full support of everyone at the club, and we have raised the incident immediately with the Uefa match delegate and home club. We expect this matter to be investigated...