Manchester United and Liverpool face sanctions over fan violence at Europa tie

Manchester United and Liverpool could face UEFA sanctions after violence erupted at Thursday's Europa League tie.

There were scuffles in the crowd at the final whistle at Old Trafford after a Liverpool flag was unfurled in the home end with police intervening and escorting a small group of fans out of the upper tier of the East Stand.

Greater Manchester police made five arrests, two of them on suspicion of affray and one for lighting a flare.

A number of flares and smoke bombs were seen in the away end after Liverpool scored shortly before half-time.

A statement from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) read: "Just prior to the full time whistle, police were made aware of a physical altercation between supporters of both sides.

"Police and stewards broke up the altercation and after police took details of all those involved, a number of fans were escorted out of the stadium and onto their awaiting coach."

However, Superintendent Jim Liggett, GMP's match commander, added: "The behaviour of the majority of fans in attendance was excellent and I would like to thank them for their co-operation throughout."

UEFA regulations state that all clubs may be punished for "inappropriate behaviour on the part of their supporters" including the throwing of missiles, lighting fireworks or flares or any other objects and "any other lack of order or discipline observed inside or around the stadium."

Police were forced to take down an offensive banner on the outskirts of Manchester which greeted Liverpool fans arriving from Merseyside.

A makeshift banner with the word 'murderers' was tied to a bridge over the M602 in Salford, just a couple of miles from Old Trafford and a route used by many Merseyside-based supporters heading to the game.

During last week's first leg at Anfield, won 2-0 by the hosts, a number of offensive chants in reference to the tragedy were sung by a large section of the away end.

United condemned the chants but UEFA took no disciplinary action as no reference to the chants were made in the Spanish match officials' reports.

"It has always been the position of Manchester United that chants of this nature, which refer to historical tragedies, have no place in the game and do not reflect the values the club holds," said United's statement.

"We are in discussion with our fans' groups to seek their support in preventing this type of behaviour in the future."

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "At around 5:15pm on Thursday 17 March 2016, police were made aware of an offensive banner that had been hung over a bridge on the M602 prior to the Manchester United v Liverpool match at Old Trafford.

"The banner was located and officers were immediately dispatched and the banner was taken down."

Inside the stadium, one banner in the away end bearing the words 'Hang the Roma 4' - in reference to United supporters convicted in 2007 of fighting with police in the Italian capital, who subsequently had their jail sentences cut on appeal - was also quickly removed.

Midway through the second half, there were two very faint separate 'murderers' chant from the Stretford End but both died out almost before they had got started.