Moussa Sissoko appears to stamp on Man Utd new boy Daniel James in pre-season friendly

Moussa Sissoko escaped a pre-season red card after appearing to stamp on Manchester United new boy Daniel James.

The Tottenham midfielder was involved in a clash with James just 22 minutes into the feisty friendly game in Shanghai on Thursday afternoon.

James was hacked down in a nasty challenge by Sissoko, but the midfielder appeared to leave his boot in when the former Swansea youngster was on the ground.

Sissoko turned away innocently as James looked in pain on the ground.

The referee gave a free-kick to United for the initial challenge but appeared not to see the second incident, which would have surely resulted in a red card in the Premier League.

Sissoko appears to stamp on James during the pre-season friendly (MUTV)

James lies on the floor following the challenge (REUTERS)

Dele Alli had already been booked inside the first 20 minutes of the game after reaching his total in the totting up procedure with a number of late tackles.

United's Andreas Pereira and Tottenham's Japhet Tanganga were also booked in the first half.

It was a feisty start to the game in Shanghai (Getty Images)

But United saw past the early incidents and bad blood to take the lead in the game, with Anthony Martial beating Spurs goalkeeper Paolo Gazziniga at his near post.

Martial had also hit the post earlier in the game as United made a storming start to procedings.