Manchester United's head coach Michael Carrick has slammed the 'shocking' decision to send off Lisandro Martinez, describing it as one of the worst refereeing calls he has ever seen. The incident occurred during United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds, when Martinez was given a red card for a brief and seemingly unintentional hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The Argentine defender was left looking bemused as he departed the pitch, and Carrick was furious that such a minor incident had been punished so harshly.
'It's not a pull, it's not a tug, it's not aggressive, he touches it and gets sent off. Worst of all is he was sent to overturn it as a clear and obvious error. It's shocking,' Carrick told Sky Sports. The decision has sparked a heated debate, with some pundits arguing that the referee was correct to enforce the rules, while others feel that the punishment was too severe.
Martinez is not the first Premier League player to be sent off for a hair pull this season, and the incident has raised questions about the consistency of refereeing decisions. Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville felt that Martinez should have known better than to pull an opponent's hair, given the heightened scrutiny on the issue this season.
However, Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher was more sympathetic to Carrick's view, arguing that the decision was too harsh and that the game is in danger of becoming overly focused on technicalities rather than the spirit of the game.