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

Manchester United's head coach, Michael Carrick, expressed outrage over the dismissal of Lisandro Martinez, labeling it as one of the most egregious refereeing decisions he has ever seen. The incident occurred during Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds, with Martinez receiving a red card for a brief and seemingly unintentional hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Carrick's frustration stemmed from the fact that the referee, Paul Tierney, was prompted to review the play via VAR and subsequently issued the red card, resulting in a three-match ban for Martinez. The Argentine defender appeared perplexed as he exited the pitch, having been entangled with Calvert-Lewin at the time of the incident. Carrick argued that the fleeting and non-aggressive nature of the contact did not warrant such a harsh penalty. 'It's not a pull, it's not a tug, it's not aggressive, he touches it and gets sent off. The most alarming aspect is that it was sent for review as a clear and obvious error. It's shocking,' Carrick stated in an interview with Sky Sports. He further emphasized that the decision was particularly galling given that it was the second consecutive game in which Manchester United had been adversely affected by such rulings. The team had struggled to find their rhythm in the first half, conceding two goals to Noah Okafor, and Carrick felt that the early opener should have been disallowed due to Calvert-Lewin's forearm strike to defender Leny Yoro's face in the build-up. Martinez is not the first Premier League player to be sent off for a hair pull this season, with Everton's Michael Keane having suffered a similar fate in January. According to the 2025-26 Premier League handbook, players will be ejected from the game if they are found to be pulling an opponent's hair with force. However, Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher sympathized with Carrick, suggesting that the incidents involving Keane and Martinez did not meet the criteria for a red card. Carragher argued that the rules should be applied with a degree of common sense, taking into account the context and intent behind the actions. In contrast, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believed that Martinez should have been aware of the heightened scrutiny surrounding hair pulling and taken greater care to avoid such incidents.