Gary Neville shocked by first-half Ethan Ampadu incident in Leeds United vs Manchester United

Darren England "surprised" Gary Neville with his restrained refereeing in the first half of Leeds United's Premier League clash with Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

It was a heated opening 45 minutes at Elland Road, with England brandishing multiple yellow cards and blowing for a foul what felt like every few minutes.

That's understandable - especially between Leeds and Man United.

However, Neville was taken aback by one incident that saw England fail to show a yellow card to Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu.

In the 11th minute, England awarded Man United a free-kick in what could have been a dangerous position - if Leeds were playing a half-decent side - when Ampadu brought down Bryan Mbeumo.

It was a late challenge by the Wales international, which saw his studs land on the top of Mbeumo's foot. However, it didn't result in a booking for the Whites fan favourite.

What Gary Neville said about the incident

Former Man United right-back Neville thought referee England let Ampadu off by not booking him for leaving one on Mbeumo, who took a while to get up and limped away once he eventually did.

Speaking on Sky Sports+ on Saturday, Neville said: "Manchester United have just settled down in the last few minutes, mainly through these free-kicks that they're winning in good areas.

"Ampadu [goes] in late and the referee is right on top of it.

"I've seen yellows given for those."

Commentator Seb Hutchinson said: "It's not a pretty challenge and Mbeumo is still down."

Neville added: "I'm surprised the referee hasn't shown a yellow card."

It wasn't the only incident in the first half that warranted England getting his book out, however.

Bruno Fernandes and Gabriel Gudmundsson also in Darren England's naughty book

Man United's Bruno Fernandes picked up the first booking of the game in the 17th minute for a late challenge on Tarik Muharemovic.

It was good refereeing by England in that instance, because he allowed Leeds to play an advantage which saw them eventually win a throw-in inside Man United's defensive third.

Gabriel Gudmundsson was then booked two minutes for a reckless challenge on Andrey Santos, something which Neville said could have been a red card if there was more force involved.

There's no issue with the Leeds players being fired up for the occasion, but bookings and fouls being racked up can result in England making some more rash decisions in the second half.

We might be lucky to see this game finish with 22 players on the pitch.