Jonny Evans denies FA charge for spitting

The FA said the incidents, unseen by match officials, had been caught on video and reviewed by a three-man panel of former elite referees who agreed unanimously that both should have been sent off.

United won the match 1-0, but the result was overshadowed by the altercation between Evans and Cisse.

Cisse, who faces a seven-match ban after accepting his charge on Thursday evening, apologised for the incident in a statement; Evans – who had already expressed his surprise at the coverage – denied it.

"I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night's match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse," he said on Thursday.

"I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor.

"It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night."