Carrick Condemns 'Appalling' Red Card for Martinez: 'One of the Most Egregious Decisions I've Witnessed'

Manchester United's head coach, Michael Carrick, has expressed outrage over the red card given to Lisandro Martinez, describing it as one of the worst refereeing decisions he has ever seen. The incident occurred during a match against Leeds, where Martinez was sent off after a brief and unintentional hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin, resulting in a three-match ban. Carrick argued that the decision was overly harsh and that the referee had made a grave mistake by dismissing Martinez. He pointed out that the hair pull was not aggressive and that the referee had been misled by the VAR review. Carrick also felt that the decision to allow Leeds' early goal to stand, despite a foul on Leny Yoro in the build-up, was another example of poor refereeing. Former Manchester United defender, Gary Neville, disagreed with Carrick's assessment, stating that Martinez should have known better than to pull an opponent's hair, given the increased scrutiny on such incidents this season. However, Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher sympathized with Carrick, saying that the decision was too harsh and that the rule book should not always be followed to the letter.