Danny Murphy defends Man City and Leeds chants at Rashford and Sancho

Danny Murphy has defended Manchester City and Leeds fans chanting that Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho 'let their country down' on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, insisting 'that's just football'.

The Manchester United pair were targeted by Leeds supporters at Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime before City fans also taunted them during their defeat by Tottenham on Sunday.

Sancho, Rashford and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka were all subjected to shocking racist abuse online after failing to score their spot-kicks in England's penalty shoot-out defeat by Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

Rashford also had his mural in Manchester vandalised before thousands of fans left supportive messages to cover up the abuse.

The trio have received immense public support since, while Tottenham and Brentford fans gave Saka a standing ovation when he came off the bench during their clashes against Arsenal in the past week.

But Rashford and Sancho were not afforded the same warmth on the opening weekend of the season as they were mocked by both Leeds and Man City fans.

However, the Manchester United pair had the last laugh when their team-mates thrashed Leeds 5-1 while City were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham.

But Murphy, who played over 400 times in the Premier League and won nine England caps, believes fans mocking players over missed penalties is 'just part and parcel' of football.

'If you're talking about Leeds fans signing to the United boys about letting their country down, well I saw what Beckham had to endure when he kicked Simeone against Argentina and he just used it,' Murphy told talkSPORT.

'I remember him getting hammered at Anfield, he was brilliant. That's just part of football.

'If you can't take that then you're in the wrong job. If you're talking about homophobia or racism, unacceptable, not needed, songs that used to get sung when I was young about disasters, unacceptable of course.

'We know the line, most people listening know the line of right and wrong.

'You're gonna get the lads who missed penalties getting some stick from supporters every ground they go to.

'It's just part and parcel and it might inspire them to do more, it might affect them, but that's just football.'

The chants came on an unsavoury return for fans at Old Trafford with six arrested following clashes between Manchester United and Leeds supporters before kick-off.

Greater Manchester Police staged a major security operation for the high-risk fixture and had to break up 'isolated incidents of disorder' around the city centre.

During the game, some of the 3,000 Leeds supporters briefly aimed sick taunts about the Munich Air Disaster at their rivals.

There were allegations that this was in response to a Turkish flag being thrown into the away end. Two Leeds fans were killed in Istanbul in 2000 before a UEFA Cup tie against Galatasaray.

The away fans also aimed foul-mouthed abuse at former United and Leeds defender Rio Ferdinand, who was working as a pundit for BT Sport, as they waited to be allowed out of the stadium.

Tempers boiled over as fans made their way to Old Trafford before the game, with violent clashes between supporters outside cafes and restaurants.

A video posted on Twitter showed fans using bins and chairs as weapons as one lone police officer frantically tried to separate those involved using a baton.

Another video shared online showed the moment a police van arrived to a brawl which had spilled out of the Piccadilly Tavern.

Men could be seen running to the entrance of the pub, appearing to join the skirmish, while the police vehicle pulls up with its sirens blaring. It was the first time in 17 months that Old Trafford hosted a capacity crowd and the first meeting between the two teams with fans since 2011.