Ouch: Obafemi Martins elbows Nemanja Vidic
Blow: Vidic after the clash
Nemanja Vidic has shed blood on more than one occasion
for Manchester
United.
And the Serbian hardman was on the receiving end of another
nasty injury after an elbow from
Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins.
Vidic was left with blood pouring out of a wound under his right
eye after the collision during United's 2-1 victory at St James'
Park.
You can see for yourself with our pictures below taken by
Sportsmail photographer Ian Hodgson...
Cristiano Ronaldo lies holding his face after a tangle with
Stephen Taylor, a confrontation which continued into the tunnel at
half-time
In an extraordinary spat as United restored their
seven-point lead at the Premier League summit, the pair traded
insults at half-time just moments after the United forward had been
left writhing in agony, clutching his face on the cinder track,
following an intemperate challenge by the England Under-21
captain.
According to witnesses, Ronaldo and Taylor were involved in a
war of words as they headed to their respective dressing-rooms
which saw the World Player of the Year allegedly ridicule his
opponent's footballing skill.
Taylor hit back by branding the Portuguese international "ugly"
as temperatures rose before Ronaldo's team-mate, Rio Ferdinand, and
referee Steve Bennett, intervened.
The fracas occurred shortly after Ferdinand was booked by
Bennett for his furious reaction to Taylor's challenge on Ronaldo.
Newcastle's caretaker manager, Chris Hughton, defended his player.
"Steven's not a malicious type of player," he said. "He's a player
of high energy and enthusiasm and that's what we expect from his
play.
"Ronaldo was going past Steven and it was probably a bit
headstrong of Steven but in his endeavours to pull him back he
caught him on the shoulder and I think that's all it was. I have
had the opportunity to seen it again on television. Anybody that
would have looked at the incident again would have seen where it
made contact and he made contact on the top of his shoulder and his
neck."
Hughton said that he did not know if any United players had been
enraged by Taylor's challenge on Ronaldo in which he used his hands
and feet.
Hughton did, however, speak with Taylor in an attempt to avoid
having him sent off as he had been booked by Bennett. "The only
word that we had with Steven was the same as we would have with
anyone that had been booked in the first half," Hughton said.
"That's that they have to be careful because they are only one
booking away from a red card."
Newcastle are just one point above the relegation zone and were
also the subject of reports of a training ground altercation
between team-mates Andy Carroll and Shola Ameobi.
