Lisandro Martinez was shown a red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair during the second half of Leeds United’s win over Manchester United.
Lisandro Martinez sent off for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair (Image: Sky Sports)
Lisandro Martinez’s red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair during the second half of Leeds United’s game against Manchester United was widely discussed on Tuesday morning.
The Red Devils defender was sent off 11 minutes into the second period for grabbing Calvert-Lewin by the hair and was given a red card by VAR after calling referee Paul Tierney to the pitchside monitor.
Momentum then surprisingly shifted to the visitors, with Casemiro reducing the lead with a header, setting up a tense final 20 minutes for Leeds. Barring Calvert-Lewin’s 86th-minute clearance on the goal line, they came very close to equalizing in the 86th minute, but Carl Darlow made a number of excellent stops.
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Man United caretaker manager Michael Carrick believes Calvert-Lewin should have been punished for arm-bumping Lenny Yolo ahead of Noah Okafor’s opener, and questioned Martinez’s subsequent red card.
“There’s an arm in Lisandro’s face, he’s off balance and grappling. He tries to touch the shirt and gets a red card. There’s no aggression, there’s no impact, there’s no pull. We have to be careful where the game goes. This is a shocking decision, absolutely shocking. A red card, that’s really alarming.”
“I know he touched my hair. It’s different than really aggressively touching my hair.”
Lisandro Martinez sent off for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair
In fact, the word “attack” does not appear in the guidance issued by refereeing body PGMOL to Premier League officials, instead using the word “violence”. Page 96 of the 2025/26 PGMO Premier League Handbook Guide states that acts of violence include “pulling an opponent’s hair with obvious force”.
Calvert-Lewin complained to authorities that her hair fell out when Martinez grabbed her, and that she was being pulled by her hair.
When Everton’s Michael Keane was given a red card in January for pulling Wolves striker Tolu Alokodea’s hair, PGMOL manager Howard Webb clarified the guidelines in more detail.
“In recent years, it has been considered an act of violence for a player to pull an opponent’s hair,” he said. “You don’t see that often, but you do see it sometimes when players are probably against each other rather than competing for the ball.
“When you get your hair pulled, people say it’s a pretty unpleasant thing to happen, I haven’t had my hair pulled for a long time, but I think we’re aware of that and it’s in the guidance we give to clubs before the season starts.
“Grabbing someone by the hair by force is considered an act of violence and the player will be sent off. It was an appropriate result. It was unusual, but if it happens again next week, it will be the same next week.”
Therefore, according to the guidance and regulations, it was correct to give Martinez a red card. Whether the rules require more precise definitions is an entirely different discussion.
