Manchester United's head coach, Michael Carrick, has lambasted the referee's decision to send off Lisandro Martinez, labeling it as 'one of the worst' he has ever seen. The Argentine defender was given his marching orders after a brief, unintentional hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin, which was deemed a red-card offense by VAR. Carrick expressed his outrage, stating that the incident was not aggressive and did not warrant such a harsh punishment. He also pointed out that this was the second consecutive game where his team had been on the receiving end of questionable refereeing decisions.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher shared Carrick's sentiments, opining that the decision was overly harsh and that the rule book should not always be adhered to in such situations. However, not everyone agreed, with former Manchester United defender Gary Neville arguing that Martinez should have been aware of the heightened scrutiny surrounding hair pulling this season and that the decision, although 'soft,' was technically correct.