Man Utd starlet goes viral after unusual penalty gesture against Tottenham

A Manchester United U15 starlet has gone viral for a remarkable gesture in a youth game against Tottenham. The young Red Devils were awarded a contentious penalty against the North Londoners in fixture at their Carrington training ground. 

Attacker Amir Ibragimov dribbled the ball down the right wing and towards the penalty area.  

The star then appeared to slip under a challenge by Spurs’ left back.  

But the referee – perhaps unsighted – pointed to the penalty spot. Spurs’ players appeared baffled by the decision.  

Ibragimov grabbed the ball and readied himself to take the resulting spot-kick. 

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He took one step back before allowing the official to blow his whistle.  

The forward, clearly feeling the penalty award was unfair, simply rolled the ball into the arms of the Spurs goalkeeper. 

It was a remarkable show of respect from the player, who could quite easily have attempted to dispatch the penalty.  

Footage of the incident was shared on Instagram by Rising Ballers, an account which seeks to raise the profile of young players in academies across England and the rest of the world. 

And on Tuesday, Ralf Rangnick’s side face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League clash.  

The tie is finely poised at 1-1 heading into the game at Old Trafford. However, United could be without Bruno Fernandes if the midfielder returns another positive Covid test after missing the weekend win over Spurs.  

“It’s very important [not to concede first]. Even more so against a team like Atletico, who don’t mind the other team having the ball,” interim boss Rangnick said on Monday.  

“In their last four or five games, they had less than 50 per cent possession. We are aware of that, we want to try not to concede at all if possible, but it will be important to score the first goal ourselves.”