Manchester United's head coach, Michael Carrick, lambasted the 'shocking' decision to send off Lisandro Martinez, labeling it as one of the worst refereeing calls he has ever seen. The incident occurred during Man Utd's 2-1 defeat to Leeds, when Martinez was given a red card for a brief, seemingly unintentional hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Carrick expressed his outrage, stating that the punishment was excessively harsh for such a minor infraction. The Argentine defender appeared perplexed as he left the field, having been grappling with Calvert-Lewin at the time of the incident.
Carrick emphasized that the decision was particularly egregious, given that the referee, Paul Tierney, was prompted to review the play and still chose to issue the red card. The Man Utd head coach also felt that the decision to allow Leeds' early goal to stand, despite Calvert-Lewin's forearm smash to defender Leny Yoro's face in the build-up, was another questionable call.
Former Manchester United defender, Gary Neville, disagreed with Carrick's assessment, believing that Martinez should have been more aware of the potential consequences of his actions, given the heightened scrutiny on hair pulling incidents this season. Neville described the red card as 'technical' rather than a result of violent conduct, but acknowledged that it was a clear error on Martinez's part.
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher sympathized with Carrick, arguing that the decision was overly harsh and that the rule book should not always be the sole determining factor in such situations.