Man Utd captain Maguire reveals mystery behind viral fan tweet (VIDEO)

Manchester United and England star Harry Maguire revealed the mystery behind a viral tweet containing a doctored photo of him celebrating a goal in front of Leeds United fans at Elland Road.

After a goalless opening half hour, skipper Maguire broke the deadlock for the visitors with United's first goal from a corner this season, and later posted a snap of a moment that followed his bullet header to Twitter.

The upload accompanied by the caption 'You Reds' showed Maguire sliding on his knees before an abusive home crowd, who threw coins at the likes of fellow goalscorer Anthony Elanga.

Yet some eagle-eyed social media users noticed that one Leeds fan's head seemed to have been photoshopped in and demanded an explanation.

On Monday morning as the dust had already settled on the 4-2 win for United, Maguire cleared up the confusion.

"For everyone asking, it’s my good mate, a big Leeds fan," the Euro 20202 finalist wrote. 

"He was at the ground but not in the pic. He’s been giving us some stick all week so thought I’d add him in," Maguire finished, along with a smiley emoji and a red ball.

Though Yorkshireman Maguire was lauded for a "captain's performance" in a hostile ground in his home county, he admitted that "every time I see that stat, I feel embarrassed" post match when reminded that his goal was United's first from a dead ball in 139 attempts this term. 

"As a team, as a group, we've been nowhere near good enough, and [set-pieces are] a big part of the game," added Maguire, who is renowned for his aerial prowess for club and country and often gets on the scoresheet despite starring in central defense.  

Yet though there was some obvious provocation in Maguire's celebration, which saw him purposely turn to reveal the name on the back of his shirt as an ex-player of Leeds' Yorkshire foes Sheffield United, and now the skipper of their greatest enemies, other possible motives behind it have come to light.

Maguire has used the knee slide before, and was berated by Manchester United legend Roy Keane for employing it against Albania in November and sticking a finger in each ear when scoring an opening goal for England too. 

"He's been a disgrace the last few months for Manchester United. If he thinks he scores he's going to shut his critics up... Embarrassing," balked Keane. 

But this time round, it seems as though the celebration might have come as part of a pact with a young cancer sufferer, who requested that Maguire "score a header for me, mate" and demanded "don't forget the knee slide" on Twitter.

After Maguire did just that, River congratulated him and said: "We are proud of you, captain."

"That was for you, River," Maguire replied, with ex-England and United icon Wayne Rooney popping up in the comments to write: "Class" with an 'OK' emoji and a love heart.