Five arrested as fans clash before Manchester United's Premier League game with Leeds at Old Trafford
There is a long history of rivalry between Leeds United and Manchester United, and today's game saw their first match with a full crowd since Leeds were promoted in 2020.
Saturday 14 August 2021 19:27, UK
Clashes broke out before Manchester United and Leeds United's Premier League season opener, with police arresting five people.
Video posted to social media appeared to show a group of supporters brawling, with a chair being thrown and someone using a bin as a weapon.
Police officers were seen in the footage, and Greater Manchester Police said they had detained five people suspected of public order offences.
A sixth was arrested on suspicion of drug offences.
Chief Superintended Stuart Ellison, who was the gold commander for the afternoon, said: "Despite isolated incidents of disorder in the city centre prior to kick-off, today's events at Old Trafford largely passed without police incident and I would like to thank the majority of the public for their cooperation throughout the day.
"There were many challenges around today's operation, and our officers were working extended hours to help ensure that events passed safely and without significant disruption for the wider public going about their weekend activity."
He added: "Work has begun immediately, in conjunction with football investigating officers from both Manchester United and Leeds United, to identify offenders of other incidents of disorder so that we are able to bring them to book for their mindless actions.
"Today was an important day for a lot of people with the return of capacity crowds at venues that have remained absent for such a long time, and I would like to thank the public, our officers and our partners from all agencies involved who helped make sure today was a safe and enjoyable affair for a vast majority of those concerned."
The game between the bitter rivals at Old Trafford kicked off at 12.30pm and was the clubs' first meeting with fans in full attendance since Leeds were promoted back to the top flight in 2020.
The game finished 5-1 in Manchester United's favour.
During the game, Leeds fans could be heard chanting "you let your country down" as Jadon Sancho warmed up, following his penalty miss in England's Euro 2020 final loss.
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This compares to Brentford fans yesterday, who applauded Arsenal player Bukayo Saka, who also missed in the shootout.
Both players suffered racist abuse on social media afterwards.