Michael Carrick furious at Lisandro Martinez’s red card in Manchester United’s loss to Leeds: ‘One of the worst I’ve ever seen’

Eleven minutes into the second half, the central defender was judged to have pulled Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair and referee Paul Tierney was advised to check the pitchside monitor and handed him a red card.

United were 2-0 down in the first half thanks to Noah Okafor’s double and Casemiro only halved the deficit when reduced to 10 men, but Carrick was furious with the referee.

Reflecting on the defeat, the interim head coach told Sky Sports: “Lenny Yolo hit me with a forearm to the back of the head and they obviously conceded a goal when they scored the first goal. They didn’t make the decision to overturn that decision. That was a big moment of the game.”

“In the second half, I thought the players stayed positive and fought to get something after the shocking and shocking decision to send off (Martinez).

“Two games in a row a decision like that went against us, but that game was one of the worst I’ve seen.”

Lisandro Martinez appears to be holding Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair

Image credit: Getty Images

The former United midfielder continued: “You can elbow Lenny Yolo to score the first goal, or you can obviously tilt your arm and throw it in Martinez’s face. And because he’s off balance because of that, he can half grapple, half touch his hair, pull his bob and make him come out.

“I don’t even know what that feels like. It’s not a tug, it’s not a tug, it’s not aggressive. He touched me and I got sent off.”

“What’s worse is that he will be sent to reverse it. This is a clear mistake. It’s shocking.”

Leeds’ victory was their first in the league at Old Trafford in 45 years and leaves them six points clear of the relegation zone with six games remaining.

Okafor put the visitors ahead with his first clinical goal just five minutes later, and doubled his and his team’s tally just before the half-hour mark with a deflected volley.

Casemiro’s header with 21 minutes left and Bruno Fernandes’ 17th assist of the season sealed the end of a nerve-wracking match.

However, thanks to excellent defense such as Calvert-Lewin’s goal line clearance in the final stages, they continued to pick up a large number of points and took a big step toward remaining in the Premier League.

Coach Daniel Farke, who took a knee at full-time, said he was “tired” and “relieved” after the win but felt his team deserved more that night and throughout the season.

“I’m proud of the players, it was a great performance,” he told Sky Sports. “We are at a critical stage of the season and it is important that we hold our nerve and stick to our plan.

“I thought the first half was great. We should have been better than 2-0. We missed many chances.

“I think it’s the first win in the history of the Premier League and the first time in 40 years. It’s fantastic and obviously a big step forward.”

He added: “The reality is that performance-wise we should already be well over 40 points. This team has been incredibly consistent all season.”

“Given that reality, we have 36 points but we need a few more points. We are close to three points at the moment and nothing has been achieved yet. We have to stay humble, grounded and hungry.”

“We’re not perfect. We’re not a finished end product. We’re on a good path and we’re on our way to accomplishing some really positive things this season.”