Man Utd investigate after 12 players and staff suffered food poisoning after trip to Moldova

Manchester United have launched an investigation after 12 players and staff allegedly suffered from food poisoning following their trip to Moldova to face Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League. Erik ten Hag's men won 2-0 in the Moldovan capital Chisinau, but some were left with an unpleasant surprise on Friday morning when they were forced to miss training after falling ill on their return.

United got their European campaign back on track against Sheriff after losing their opening group game against Real Sociedad at Old Trafford. With the weekend game against Leeds postponed due to policing issues, Ten Hag was able to play a fully-fledged side which paid off, with the team picking up a comfortable victory.

However, it looks like the next day was less pleasant for some United stars after they contracted food poisoning in the hours after the game. reports that 12 employees fell ill the next day after forcing a handful of players to miss practice on Friday. Some were missing for Saturday's session, but they were all able to join their national team as usual.

An investigation has now been launched as the club seeks to resolve the issue. United officials do not know where the players were fed the problematic food with locations in Chisinau and meals fed on the plane under suspicion.

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The mistake could have had serious consequences for Ten Hag had the game against Leeds stayed, as he might have been forced to play a badly depleted side against their northern rivals.

After the game against Sheriff, the Dutchman wanted to congratulate Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho after both players scored in the game.

"Ronaldo needed this goal," he said. "Many times he got close, but he wanted it so badly. We are happy for him and the team wanted to bring him a goal. You know Cristiano will score a penalty.

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"After the first 10 minutes we found our formation, we were safer, we had good movement on the ball in the middle of the park, we kept the ball and in the good moments we got separated, we made a great goal with Jadon Sancho

"I'm really happy [for him]. Another goal...he's doing well, but I think there's still a lot of room for improvement for him because he has so many skills."

It remains to be seen what was the cause of the food poisoning, but Ten Hag will be glad it didn't affect United's performance on the pitch.

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