Manchester United and Aston Villa players had to intervene after both Cristiano Ronaldo and Tyrone Mings came to blows during the Red Devils' 3-1 defeat in the Midlands on Sunday.
The Portuguese was selected to start in the Midlands by Erik ten Hag and was even granted the captain's armband. He did not quite have the impact that anyone desired though with the Red Devils finding themselves 2-0 down within just 11 minutes following goals from Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne.
United threatened a comeback before the break as Jacob Ramsey put through his own net but the Villa academy graduate had the perfect response as he extended his side's lead after the restart.
As Ten Hag's men attempted to find a route back into the match, things certainly took a turn as Ronaldo and Mings were involved in a fiery incident in the 59th minute of the clash..
Both players were stationed in the Villa penalty area, with Alejandro Garancho possessing the ball and waiting to produce a cross. Instead of waiting for the ball to be delivered, both players appeared to grab each other by the shirt and were then involved in a brief tangle.
Neither elected to let go of the other before a number of their teammates got involved and were forced to separate the pair. Referee Anthony Taylor intervened and handed both Ronaldo and Mings a yellow card each. VAR did briefly take a look at the incident but it was decided that no further punishment was required.
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The incident triggered a furious response from the Villa Park faithful with United striker Ronaldo being booed every time he touched the ball.
The bad-tempered outlook of the game continued after that with United defender Lisandro Martinez this time at the heart of things. Just minutes after Ronaldo's clash with Mings, the Argentine was attempting to chaperone the ball out of play and was being chased by Villa forward Bailey.
The Jamaican then fell to the floor having seemingly been on the end of a double elbow. VAR once again examined the incident but decided that no further punishment was required.
Defeat to Villa leaves United fifth in the Premier League standings, whilst Villa would rise to 14th having got Unai Emery's reign at the club off to the best possible start.
United round-off their pre-World Cup fixtures with a clash against high-flying Fulham next weekend, whilst Emery will be aiming for another positive result against Brighton. Before that though, the two sides clash in the third round of the Carabao Cup in midweek.
