Matthijs de Ligt 'splits his head open' and left bloodied after taking nasty knee against Brentford

Matthijs de Ligt 'split his head open' and was left bloodied after taking a nasty knee against Brentford.

De Ligt was restored to the Manchester United starting XI for Saturday's Premier League fixture after being left out against Aston Villa prior to the international break.

And in the opening stages of the clash at Old Trafford, he took a gruesome knee in an incident that left him bloodied with a massive gash on his head.

Kevin Schade accidentally struck De Ligt with a knee as he attempted to control the ball during a Brentford attack.

Despite De Ligt being left in an awful state, Brentford were awarded a free-kick, angering fans online.

One X user wrote: "De Ligt head meets Schade knee and the refs give a free kick to Brentford sums up how Man United games are officiated."

A second tweeted: "How is this not a red card?"

A third added: "We know the ref is against Manchester United. How is De Ligt getting kneed is a foul against United? And how is VAR not looking into it?"

A fourth fumed: "De Ligt penalised for getting flying kneed."

A fifth exclaimed: "De Ligt takes a knee to the head and it’s a free kick to Brentford. f**k off."

The Dutch defender immediately clutched his head, with a post on social media later revealing a horrible-looking cut on his head.

Man United were temporarily reduced to 10 men as the medical team patched him up. He eventually returned to the pitch.

However, before the break, De Ligt received further treatment as blood gushed out of his head, leaving the pitch on two separate occasions.

To make matter worse for Man United, Brentford took advantage of the player not being on pitch, scoring from a corner kick, angering Erik ten Hag, who was booked for his remonstrations.