Man United head coach Michael Carrick slams "shocking" Lisandro Martinez red card in defeat to Leeds United

Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has slammed referee Paul Tierney's decision to send Lisandro Martinez off in Monday's Premier League clash with Leeds United.

Martinez was handed a straight red card after pulling the hair of Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin following an aerial challenge between the two early in the second period.

Tierney did not initially see the incident but was sent to the pitchside monitor to review it after advice from VAR, which led to a red card bring produced.

"After review, Manchester United 6 is guilty of pulling his hair - violent conduct. Final decision is red card," Tierney announced before producing the red card.

Martinez is now set to be suspended for Man United's next three Premier League games against Chelsea, Brentford and Liverpool.

Lisandro Martínez has been sent off for violent conduct ? pic.twitter.com/TFGLTZUiTB
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 13, 2026

Martinez will miss Man United's next three Premier League games against Chelsea, Brentford, Liverpool

"You can elbow Leny Yoro for the first goal, leaning arm obviously, you can throw your arm in Martinez's face and then as he's off balance because of that, he's half grappling, he half touches the back of his hair which pulls the bobble to come out," Carrick told Sky Sports News.

"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.

"We didn't start the game particularly well. We obviously conceded when Leny Yoro gets a forearm smash in the back of the head and they score the first goal.

"They didn't decide to overturn that decision. That was a big moment in the game. We didn't quite have the rhythm, we didn't click, we had some moments but it wasn't quite there for large parts of the first half.

"But second half, I thought the boys the way they went about it, stayed positive and fought to get something out of it after another shocking, shocking decision to send [Lisandro Martinez] off. Two games in a row we've had decisions like that go against us but that one was one of the worst I've seen."

Man United fell to home defeat to Leeds on Monday night

Noah Okafor's first-half double proved to be enough to secure a 2-1 win for Leeds, with Casemiro's second-half header only a consolation for the Red Devils.

"I'm not talking about the referee. If I talk about the referee I'm going to get in very big trouble because the rules are applied differently for everyone. You can see it also in the yellow cards. It's better that I don't say anything," Man United captain Bruno Fernandes also told Sky Sports News after the home loss.

Man United remain third in the Premier League table, seven points above sixth-placed Chelsea ahead of Saturday's contest between the two teams at Stamford Bridge.