Carrick says Martinez hair-pull red card ‘one of worst decisions I’ve seen’

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez was sent off for pulling the hair of Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin in their 2-1 loss at Old Trafford – with manager Michael Carrick calling it “one of the worst” decisions he has seen.

Martinez, 28, was shown a straight red by referee Paul Tierney and will now face a three-match suspension, although Carrick suggested afterwards the club could appeal against the decision. The hosts were trailing 2-0 to Noah Okafor’s first-half double when the Argentine tried to stop Leeds striker Calvert-Lewin by holding his hair in an off-the-ball incident, after being caught in the face himself.

Tierney was instructed to review the incident on the pitchside monitor by the video assistant referee (VAR) before sending off Martinez. “After review, Manchester United 6 is guilty of pulling his hair – violent conduct. Final decision is red card,” Tierney announced to the stadium. The Premier League Match Centre posted on X: “After VAR review, the referee issued a red card to Martinez for violent conduct.”

But Carrick was left fuming at the dismissal, saying: “That decision was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. He [Calvert-Lewin] can throw his arms in Licha’s [Martinez’s] face – and then he’s sent off. Shocking. “I don’t even know what it looks like. It’s not a pull, it’s not a tug, it’s not aggressive. He touches it and he gets sent off. “Worse of all, he gets sent to overturn it, a clear and obvious error. Shocking. He is off balance and grappling.

“We have got to be careful where the game is going. It is a shocking decision, absolutely shocking.”