Manchester United's head coach, Michael Carrick, has lambasted the 'shocking' decision to send off Lisandro Martinez, labeling it as 'one of the worst' refereeing calls he has ever witnessed. The incident occurred during United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds, when Martinez was given his marching orders for a brief and seemingly unintentional hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The Argentine defender appeared perplexed as he left the pitch, and Carrick was incensed by the severity of the punishment, which will see Martinez serve a three-match ban.
'It's not a pull, it's not a tug, it's not aggressive, he touches it and gets sent off. The worst part is that it was sent to overturn it as a clear and obvious error. It's shocking,' Carrick expressed his dismay to Sky Sports. The United boss was also frustrated by the decision to allow Leeds' early opener to stand, despite Calvert-Lewin catching defender Leny Yoro with an arm in the build-up.
'We didn't start the game particularly well. We conceded, which came after Leny Yoro got a forearm smash in the back of his head,' Carrick added. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher sympathized with Carrick's viewpoint, stating that the decision to send off Martinez was 'softer' than a similar incident involving Everton's Michael Keane earlier in the season. 'He's going for the ball, Calvert-Lewin's done nothing wrong, he's just put his arm out.
Martinez is almost grappling, he's just trying to grab onto something. It could've been his shirt, it could've been anything,' Carragher reasoned. However, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville disagreed, feeling that Martinez should have been aware of the potential consequences of pulling an opponent's hair, given the increased scrutiny on such incidents this season.