Michael Carrick was furious after Manchester United’s defeat to Leeds United(Image: Sky Sports)
Michael Carrick fumed after Manchester United’s defeat to Leeds United, describing the decision to show Lisandro Martinez a red card as ‘one of the worst I’ve seen’.
Martinez was shown a straight red card for a hair pull on Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Referee Paul Tierney was instructed by the VAR (video assistant referee) to review what happened on the pitch-side monitor and showed a red card.
Martinez will now serve a three-match ban, missing fixtures against Chelsea, Brentford and Liverpool. Carrick said Tierney’s decision was ‘shocking’ as he also took issue with a challenge on Leny Yoro.
“We didn’t start the game particularly well,” the United interim head coach told Sky Sports. “We conceded, which came after Leny Yoro got a forearm smash in the back of his head.
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“They didn’t decide to overturn that, which was a big moment in the game. We didn’t quite have the rhythm, we didn’t click. We had some moments but it wasn’t there for large parts of the half.
“I thought the boys stayed positive and fought for everything in the second half, after a shocking decision to send Licha [Martinez] off. That’s two games in a row we’ve had those decisions go against us, but that one was one of the worst I’ve seen.”
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Announcing the decision to the Old Trafford crowd, Tierney said: “After review, Manchester United 6 is guilty of pulling his hair – violent conduct. Final decision is red card.”
Former United full-back Gary Neville said at the time “Martinez looks perplexed and confused: ‘What have I done?’
Lisandro Martinez was sent off for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair
“He’s pulled his hair and that results in a red card, nowadays. He knows what he’s doing there.”
But Carrick disagreed, claiming that Calvert-Lewin initiated the contact which led the the sending off. “You can elbow Leny Yoro in the side of the head, a leading arm, obviously,” he said.
“Then you can throw your arm in Licha’s face and as he’s off-balance because of that, he half touches the back of his hair which pulls the bobble out and leads it to look like – I don’t even know what it looks like.
“It’s not a pull, it’s not a tug, it’s not aggressive, he touches it and gets sent off. Worst of all is he was sent to overturn it as a clear and obvious error. It’s shocking.”
