Michael Carrick has launched a fierce attack on the officials after Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Leeds, calling two key refereeing decisions in as many games “shocking” and insisting that Lisandro Martinez’s red card was among the worst he has witnessed in his managerial career.
Noah Okafor’s first-half double gave Leeds United a famous victory, their first league win at Old Trafford in over 23 years, with Casemiro heading back a consolation in the second half.
But the result was overshadowed by the anger in Carrick’s post-match assessment, as he trained his sights on referee Paul Tierney and VAR for a string of decisions he felt had cost his side.
“We didn’t start the game particularly well,” Carrick told Sky Sports. “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 off Martinez. 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.”
Carrick’s Red Card Fury
Martinez was dismissed in the 56th minute after what the referee judged to be a deliberate pull of Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair. VAR reviewed the decision and declined to intervene, leaving United to play the final half-hour with ten men. Carrick was incredulous.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
United Look to the Final Weeks
Despite the result ending Carrick’s unbeaten home run since taking charge in January, the United manager was determined to look beyond the frustration, pointing to a strong second-half response as evidence of what his side are capable of.
“The boys went for it,” he said. “It’s football, sometimes you don’t have good spells in games and other times you do. We know we can be better and do things better. We’ll obviously look at that.
“The second half, could’ve got something out of the game. I’m pleased with how we went about that. We spoke at half-time about getting the next goal and trying to win the game. It was obviously more difficult when you’re a man down.”
Asked whether the international break had disrupted United’s rhythm, Carrick was short. “Doesn’t make any difference, to be honest.
“This is one game. We’ll certainly look at it and look to improve. We’ve got another big game, an important game next week and a big end to the season.
“We’re in a really good position. Tonight’s disappointing, we didn’t want to lose and we didn’t want the referee’s decisions to be so bad against us, but we move on. We’ve got a big end to the season and there’s a lot to be positive about.”
United remain third in the Premier League and in the hunt for Champions League qualification, but they cannot continue to rely on dropped points by their rivals.
