Man Utd’s Martinez sent off for hair-pull – is three-match ban justified?
Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez was sent off after 56 minutes for pulling the hair of Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Old Trafford.
Martinez, 28, was shown a straight red card and will now face a three-match suspension.
United were trailing 2-0 after Noah Okafor’s first-half double when the Argentine tried to stop the Leeds attacker by holding his hair in an off-the-ball incident.
Referee Paul 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.”
“Martinez looks perplexed and confused: ‘What have I done?'” former Manchester United defender Gary Neville said on Sky Sports.
“He’s pulled his hair and that results in a red card, nowadays. He knows what he’s doing there.”
Martinez was making his first Premier League start for United since a 1-1 draw against West Ham on 10 February, after recovering from a calf injury.
It is the second consecutive league game in which United have had a defender sent off, after Harry Maguire saw a red card in the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth before the international break.
“The after-effects could be serious,” said BBC Sport’s Manchester United reporter Simon Stone.
“Martinez will be banned for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea. Maguire is expecting to find out whether he is going to get an extra game suspension for his red card.
“If he does, 19-year-old Ayden Heaven and 20-year-old Leny Yoro will be Michael Carrick’s only fit central defenders at Stamford Bridge.”
