Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal bizarrely compared Leicester defender Robert Huth’s hair-pull on Marouane Fellaini with “sex masochism” and also tugged a television reporter by the hair in an eccentric attempt to defend his player.

Van Gaal was quizzed on the incident which saw United midfielder Fellaini escape without punishment after elbowing Huth in the neck and opted to explain why the Belgian had reacted that way by getting physical with the reporter.

Claiming Fellaini’s hair had been grabbed by Huth in a deliberate piece of provocation, van Gaal reached out to do the same to his Sky Sports interviewer.

“It was a very difficult match for the referee — when you see what Huth is doing with Fellaini, is that not a penalty?,” van Gaal said.

“When I grab your hair…Your hair is much shorter.

“Every human being who is grabbed with their hair would react.”

Then in a separate interview with the BBC, van Gaal conjured up another odd expression to lambast Huth.

“It is not in the books that somebody has to grab with the hair and pull from behind. Only in sex masochism, then it is allowed,” he said.

United will now wait to see if Fellaini is retrospectively punished by the Football Association for his offence.