The Premier League Match Centre have issued a statement after Lisandro Martinez received a red card against Leeds United for a needless hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Referee Paul Tierney was sent to the VAR screen after Manchester United‘s Argentine centre-back yanked Calvert-Lewin’s ponytail while competing for an aerial ball. And Martinez was shown a straight red and given his marching orders in the 56th minute with his team already trailing 2-0 to Noah Okafor’s first-half brace.
The Match Centre’s statement read: “#MUNLEE – 54′ VAR OVERTURN: After VAR review, the referee issued a red card to Martínez for violent conduct. Referee announcement: ‘After review, Manchester United 6 is guilty of pulling his hair – violent conduct. Final decision is red card.'” United legend Gary Neville was working as a co-commentator for Sky Sports and said of the incident: “You are not getting away with a hair pull… Martinez is looking perplexed and confused. ‘What have I done?’ But a hair pull results in a red card these days. He knew what he was doing.”
Post-match, Calvert-Lewin told Sky Sports: “I don’t know, I don’t make the rules at the end of the day. I felt my hair get pulled and I obviously told the ref. He’s the one who makes the decisions. Unfortunate for him [Martinez]. Whether he’s meant it or not, I don’t hold grudges, it is what it is isn’t it.”
It comes after Everton defender Michael Keane was punished for a similar foul on Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare back in January. Keane similarly pulled the forward’s hair during an aerial challenge.
That decision left David Moyes irate but Everton were unsuccessful in their attempt to appeal Keane’s dismissal. The Scot’s attempt to overturn the red card was rejected, as was the Toffees’ secondary appeal to reduce the player’s ban from three games.
The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel voted unanimously that the red card was the correct decision. And the majority view of the Football Association’s regulatory commission was that “the forceful pulling of a person’s hair can be said to fall outside the normal constituent elements of a challenge in football”.
The panel ruled that “in the wider interests of football ‘hair pulling’ ought not to be tolerated and should be discouraged”.
Despite Martinez’s red card, 10-man United halved the deficit at Old Trafford 13 minutes later when Bruno Fernandes crossed for Casemiro to head in. The assist was the Red Devils skipper’s 17th of the Premier League campaign.
But they ultimately paid the price for a poor first half, and Martinez’s dismissal, as Leeds recorded a 2-1 win at Old Trafford. It is their first away league win over United in 45 years.
United legend Roy Keane reacted on SKy Sports: “They’ll be disappointed. They’ve had a lot of momentum over the last few months and praise for the manager. There was concern going into the game that they hadn’t played for a number of weeks, but Carrick said it wouldn’t be a problem.
“But when you start a game that slowly, it’s hard to recover. You’ve got to run and Man Utd weren’t sprinting. A little bit at the end, but it was too little, too late.
“It’s a big setback for them. The midfield was non-existent, particularly in the first half. No energy, no quality and Leeds were out of the blocks quickly. A fantastic result for them.”