Cristiano Ronaldo appears to SPIT on Manchester United team-mate Anthony Elanga after frustrating draw against Southampton, as footage shows Portuguese star’s saliva accidentally hitting teenager’s shirt
- Manchester United were held to 1-1 draw by Southampton on Saturday
- Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to spit towards Anthony Elanga in the second half
- Viewers were left puzzled by incident with footage going viral online
- The bizarre exchange was due to camera angle creating an optical illusion
Manchester United‘s draw against Southampton on Saturday featured a bizarre incident in which Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to spit in the direction of team-mate Anthony Elanga.
Footage from BT Sport shows the five-time Ballon d’Or winner spit while standing behind the teenage forward, with some of the saliva seemingly landing on the latter’s shirt.
Elanga seemed completely oblivious to what had happened, but the footage went viral on social media, leaving viewers perplexed as to what they had just witnessed.
Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score for the sixth consecutive game on Saturday
Anthony Elanga came on as a substitute but failed to make an impact for Manchester United
‘I’m sure the FA have seen Ronaldo spit on Elanga,’ one user wrote.
‘And I’m expecting a deserved punishment. that’s really unnecessary deliberate or not.’
Another added: ‘This needs explaining, Did Ronaldo really just spit on Anthony Elanga. Did United play that bad?’
Some Twitter users believed Ronaldo deliberately spat towards Elanga on Saturday
The incident left several viewers puzzled as the Portuguese’s saliva appeared to land on Elanga
Other viewers, meanwhile, appeared to be more confused.
‘Did I see things or did anyone else [see] Ronaldo spit towards the back of Elanga at the end of the game?,’ one user said.
‘Did Ronaldo just spit on his own teammate?,’ another wrote.
However, Elanga’s lack of reaction appeared to suggest the incident was nothing more than an optical illusion generated by the camera angle, as some Twitter users pointed out.
‘I hope it’s just the camera angle and Ronaldo didn’t just spit on Elanga,’ one user said, while another added: ‘Look clearly, Ronaldo is farther than Elanga, he didn’t spit on him.’
Viewers were left perplexed as to what they had just witnessed during the game
Ronaldo appeared to spit in the direction of his younger teammate during the game
Ronaldo failed to score for the sixth consecutive game – his worst goal drought in club football in 12 years – as United were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton at Old Trafford.
Jadon Sancho scored his second goal in three appearances in all competitions to put Ralf Rangnick’s men in front after 25 minutes, only for Che Adams to draw the visitors level two minutes after the restart.
The draw left United fifth on the table level on points with West Ham United and seven points behind third-placed Chelsea.
Some Twitter users were quick to point out Ronaldo had in fact not spat towards Elanga
And that the incident was simply due to the camera angle creating an optical illusion
