The PGMOL will have a lot of explaining to do this week after Manchester United’s defeat to Leeds was clouded in VAR and refereeing controversy.
Manchester United were defeated 2-1 by Leeds at Old Trafford on Monday night, with the result hard to stomach given the circumstances around the loss.
Leeds played United off the park in the first half; there is no taking that away from them. However, without some blatant decisions, they wouldn’t have won the game.
Most notable was Lisandro Martinez’s soft red card due to a hair ‘pull’ on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. This decision wasn’t the only error, with Leeds’ first goal also sparking debate.
Lisandro Martinez has been SENT OFF for a hair pull – Let us know your thoughts…
It was described as 'violent conduct'
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Leny Yoro battles for the ball.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Michael Carrick and Louis Saha both argue against Leeds’ opening goal
While Martinez was sent off for touching Calvert-Lewin’s ponytail, earlier in the game, the Leeds number nine elbowed Leny Yoro in the head, and it went unpunished, setting up their opening goal.
Yoro went up to head the ball, but Calvert-Lewin only had eyes for the United defender as he led with his elbow to clatter into the Frenchman, which should absolutely have been a foul and, as a result, no goal.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Carrick ripped into the referee and VAR for the various decisions, including the incident on Yoro.
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“Leny Yoro gets a forearm smashed into the back of his head, and they score on the back of that. Didn’t decide to overturn that one, did they?”
Carrick’s former teammate Louis Saha also agreed, as he tweeted during the game to question how it wasn’t a foul on Yoro.
“Am I the only one to see an obvious foul on Yoro? Seriously!!!! I understand that’s a derby, but no!!”
Do you agree with Michael Carrick – Should Leeds’ first goal have been ruled out?
Carrick was fuming after the game
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Carrick is just right to call out Manchester United’s poor officiating
After the defeat, Carrick was quite rightly furious with yet another game being impacted by the officiating.
United complained to PGMOL after decisions against Bournemouth, yet somehow, things got worse against Leeds, prompting Carrick’s rant.
Considering the frequency of blatant errors and borderline scandalous decisions against United, Carrick is right to publicly call them out.
The red card will surely be formally complained about again this week, with Carrick slamming the decision post-game.
“There is an arm in the face of Lisandro to start, he goes to balance and touches his hair. The bobble comes out, it’s not aggressive. We need to be careful where the game is going. If you can do arms in the face, that’s alright. Absolutely shocking decision. Hope Licha is still available.”
Before Martinez touched Calvert-Lewin’s hair, the Leeds forward grabbed Martinez’s neck and, if he had a pony-tail, would also have pulled his hair, making it insane to punish Martinez.
Answers are needed by the PGMOL.
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