Man Utd brutally troll Chelsea as eagle-eyed fans spot five-word comment

Man Utd have made a sly dig at Chelsea following their group huddle incident involving referee Paul Tierney against Newcastle.

Chelsea have caught the entire Premier League's attention with their new pre-match ritual, that involves surrounding the ball in the centre circle with a team huddle before kick-off.

The tradition began in January, with Chelsea performing the huddle in all of their most recent 11 matches, including Saturday's home defeat to Newcastle.

However, there was one notable difference this time around, with the entire Blues starting eleven surrounding match referee Tierney in an incredibly awkward moment.

It wasn't obvious if Tierney simply refused to move, or the Chelsea squad just wouldn't let him out but the incident quickly went viral online.

Speaking on commentary about the ritual Steve McManaman said: “I have no idea… I think it’s ridiculous, to be very honest."

It wasn't just fans and pundits who found it amusing, with Man Utd's official account making light of the situation on social media ahead of their 3-1 home win vs Aston Villa.

Hidden in the comments of an image of United's more traditional huddle, the official account commented: "Not a referee in sight..."

Liam Rosenior tells Paul Tierney to focus on his job after huddle incident

The comment quickly gained traction, however, one person who wasn't amused by the incident was Liam Rosenior, who called out Tierney in his post-match press conference.

"I'm disappointed," Rosenior said.

"There's more focus and emphasis on the things that don't matter."

The Chelsea boss also reiterated that he is not responsible for the new pre-match tradition, and that accusations of it being disrespectful are well wide of the mark.

"I'm going to make it really clear, I want to protect my players," he continued.

"I'm respectful to the game, my players made the decision that they wanted to be around the ball, to respect the ball and show unity and leadership.

"That is not my decision. That was a decision between the leadership group and the team.

"There is nothing that they're doing with that huddle that is disrespectful to the opposition."

The 41-year-old claimed Tierney should focus more on his job, and was adamant his side should have had a spot kick after Nick Woltemade's challenge on Cole Palmer.

"If Paul [Tierney] had focused more on his job, which was to make the right decision, we have a penalty today," he added.

"I don't think anybody in this room can say that Woltemade doesn't kick Cole Palmer down in the box.

"So let's focus on the things that are important. My team showing unity is not as important as getting the decisions right on the pitch."

Chelsea will be hoping to overturn a 5-2 deficit at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to keep their Champions League dreams alive following their defeat in Paris last week.