MANCHESTER -- Louis van Gaal denied Marouane Fellaini was guilty of spitting at Sergio Aguero in Manchester United's derby defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
Fellaini was pictured bending over the Manchester City striker after a challenge when the Argentine felt he was fouled in the penalty box by the Belgian, and appeared to spit at him.
However, Van Gaal insisted the former Everton player's only intention was to shout at Aguero, who scored the only goal of the game, as he seemed to accuse him of diving.
The United manager said in his news conference: "I have heard that it is a question on social media but already the TV has shown that he is shouting and sometimes when you shout there's a little bit of saliva [that comes out] with it. I don't think that he's a spitting figure."
Fellaini escaped unpunished after he was accused of spitting at City right-back Pablo Zabaleta in last season's derby at Old Trafford.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini did not escalate the issue, adding: "It's something I don't know about."
Van Gaal praised his players for their efforts to get an equaliser, even though they were down to 10 men after Chris Smalling was sent off.
He added: "As a manager you can be proud of the last 20 minutes because they showed a willpower that was unbelievable in my opinion and we could have scored at that moment.
"But I think the first half was not a half that as a coach that you think everything was good. We give too easy the ball away to Manchester City and in unnecessary situations. So I was not so pleased with the first half."
Defeat leaves United 13 points behind leaders Chelsea and Van Gaal said: "We still only have 13 points out of 10 games and that is not so much."