Man Utd stars Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial suffer vile racist abuse on Instagram after defeat to Sheff United

MANCHESTER UNITED duo Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe were targeted with sick racist abuse following their side's defeat to Sheffield United.

The players were attacked on their social media accounts with a number of users posting racist comments and symbols.

Martial, 25, played the full game as United slipped to a shock 2-1 home loss to the side at the bottom of the Premier League.

Tuanzebe, 23, started his first game this season, and was substituted in the 82nd minute.

He was also racially abused on Twitter.

Manchester United released a statement on their condemning the racism.

It read: “Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night’s game.

“We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also.

“Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our All Red All Equal initiative.

"Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour.“

The Red Devils also tweeted out a banner against racism following the disgusting incident.

It was captioned: "We are #UnitedAgainstRacism. Then, now and always."

Tuanzebe has since shared the banner on his Instagram Stories.

SunSport have contacted and Kick It Out for comment.

United legend Rio Ferdinand has tweeted out his disgust and shared some of the comments aimed at the players.

He wrote: "This is a disgrace.

"These ignorant idiots need to be exposed so everyone can see them for what they are!"

The vile abuse was also slammed by many United fans on Twitter.

Aidan Walsh posted: "I honestly can't believe people are racially abusing Axel Tuanzebe because of a bad game of football.

"People are sick in the head, there's no room for you in this sport or let alone in the world."

And another furious supporter wrote: "People who posted racist comments on Tuanzebe and Martial are vile, disgusting human beings who should be locked up.

"You are not fans of this great club and I hope you guys rot in hell."

Rock-bottom Blades claimed just their second Premier League win of the campaign – and their first at Old Trafford for 48 years – thanks to goals from Kean Bryan and Oliver Burke.

The match-winning strike took an unlucky deflection off Tuanzebe before nestling in the back of the net.

The result denied Ole’s men top spot, and the United boss fumed: “We are very disappointed. We didn’t create enough. The magic was missing.

“We didn’t have the right ideas or solutions, and the second goal we conceded was so poor and so sloppy. There were three or four decisions that were completely out of character.

"The boys have been terrific the last few months but when you don’t hit those levels you don’t get results.”

Skipper Maguire – who equalised for United in the second half before Burke’s late winner – added: “It wasn’t good enough and we didn’t play to a level we expect from ourselves.

“We gave them two goals, now it's time to stand up and be counted because it's easy when you are winning football matches.

“When you lose it is about how quickly you bounce back.”