The most costly aspect of Manchester United’s defeat to Leeds could be Lisandro Martinez’s red card, with the defender now facing a three-match ban.
Lisandro Martinez was sent off for pulling the hair of Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with VAR intervening to guide referee Paul Tierney towards the decision.
Martinez looked stunned to receive the red card, the second of its type in the Premier League this season.
Everton’s Michael Keane was shown a red card for a hair pull on Wolves’ Tolu Arokodare earlier this season, to the fury of manager David Moyes.
Former referee Mark Clattenburg told United In Focus that Tierney was following the letter of the law and Martinez was correctly sent off.
However, another former Premier League referee disagrees, arguing that there was no ‘violent conduct’ in Martinez’s actions.
Lisandro Martinez looks on during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Leeds United at Old Trafford in 2026 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport via Getty Images
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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Martinez wrongly sent off
It was pointed out on MUTV that Lisandro Martinez did not actively make an aggressive action to yank Calvert-Lewin’s hair in a ‘violent’ manner.
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The two players were jostling and Calvert-Lewin had his hand in Martinez’s face, while the Manchester United defender had his arm raised to balance himself.
Former referee Mark Halsey told The Sun that VAR should never have even intervened in the decision.
He explained: “When you have two players challenging for the ball, the defender is always going to have his arm feeling for the player in front. Now Paul Tierney plays on, doesn’t see anything, play is stopped.
“VAR recommend a review for violent conduct by Martinez for a hair pull. Is that a clear and obvious error for VAR to get involved? In my opinion, it’s not violent conduct. It’s very very harsh.”
Halsey added that he felt Martinez was not guilty of violent conduct, with no nuance shown in the referee’s assessment of the situation: “He’s got his hand on his hair for a split second. There’s no force. There’s no pull down.
“If Martinez gets hold of his hair and pulls it hard and tugs it down, I would say yes, that is violent conduct. But what we saw? There was not violent conduct.”
He also pointed out the flaws in the Premier League’s application of the law, despite Michael Keane’s sending off for Everton.
“We saw an incident a while ago with Semenyo at Manchester City against Fulham. That was worse and there was no action taken. So where’s the consistency?”
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Backlash to red card
Alan Shearer was among those to come out and criticise the decision, arguing that it was a worrying indictment of the state of the game.
He told the BBC: “Never a red card, not in the Premier League. We need to be careful about where the game is heading if that is being deemed violent conduct and a red card. It’s not what we want to see.”
“So why is hair pulling always seen as a red card? What makes it violent conduct? And does a player really deserve to miss three matches because of it?”
Manchester United are exploring whether to appeal the decision, with the hope Martinez’s ban could be reduced.
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