Lisandro Martinez was sent off for violent conduct after briefly tugging at Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair during Manchester United's 2-1 loss to Leeds United
Lisandro Martinez was shown a straight red card against Leeds United
Lisandro Martinez was shown a straight red card against Leeds United(Image: Getty Images)
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Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey believes Lisandro Martinez was hard done by after being dismissed for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair during Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds United.
The United defender, 28, was shown a red card on Monday night following a brief tug at Calvert-Lewin's hair after a VAR review. Martinez now faces a three-match suspension following Paul Tierney being directed to review the incident, though United are understood to have lodged an appeal against the ruling.
But Halsey does not feel Martinez warranted a red card for the momentary hair pull as the pair competed for possession.
"There was a big talking point Man United vs Leeds at Old Trafford where Martinez was sent off for violent conduct," Halsey told The Sun. "If we look at the incident, the ball is played up to Calvert-Lewin with Martinez in close proximity.
Lisandro Martinez was shown a straight red card against Leeds United
United are understood to have lodged an appeal against the red card(Image: Getty Images)
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"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."
While it remains to be seen whether Martinez's red card will be overturned following United's appeal, Michael Carrick was scathing in his assessment of the decision, describing it as "one of the worst" he has ever witnessed.
"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," he told Sky Sports.
"He's off-balance because of that, he half touches the back of his hair which pulls the bobble out and leads it to look like - I don't even know what it looks like.
"That's two games in a row we've had those decisions go against us, but that one was one of the worst I've seen."