Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez was sent off on Monday night after pulling Leeds United’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s ponytail.
More Premier League disputes are expected as the same referee, Paul Tierney, faced criticism for a similar incident during Brentford vs Fulham.
VAR intervened on Monday after Tierney missed the hair pull, but did not step in during the match on Saturday.
A missed decision
Paul Tierney did not issue a red card to Brentford’s Dango Ouattara, who pulled Fulham’s Calvin Bassey’s hair in their Saturday match.
The incident brought Bassey down, but no action was taken afterward.
Just five days prior, a similar hair pull resulted in a red card for Martinez in Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Leeds United.
Martinez received a two-match suspension on top of his automatic one-match ban for violent conduct. United’s appeal against Martinez’s red card was unsuccessful, leaving him in suspension.
Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick expressed his frustrations. “Honestly, there’s not much we can do now. We’re very disappointed about these situations over the past few weeks, but we have to move forward.”
“The decision is made, and while we disagree with it, we need to move on.”
United will feel aggrieved
Manchester United supporters are understandably upset over Paul Tierney’s decision in the Brentford vs Fulham match.
The FA maintained that Martinez’s hair-pulling was violent conduct, yet Tierney did not penalize Brentford’s Dango Ouattara for the same action.
Martinez will miss Manchester United’s games against Brentford and Liverpool after serving the first match of his ban against Chelsea.
Dango Ouattara is likely to play when his team visits Old Trafford next week, which adds to the frustration for United supporters after this decision.
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