Bruno Fernandes says 'the rules are different for everyone' after Lisandro Martinez red card
Manchester United were beaten 2-1 by Leeds United on Monday night - and they were not happy with the decision to send off Lisandro Martinez.
United had not played since a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on March 20 and it showed in the early stages at Old Trafford as Leeds raced into a 2-0 lead within the first half an hour, both goals scored by Noah Okafor.
Their night went from bad to worse early into the second half when Martinez was shown a straight red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair and, though Casemiro gave the hosts hope when he pulled one back in the 69th minute, Leeds held on for their first league win at Old Trafford since 1981.
It was also the first time Michael Carrick had suffered defeat at HQ since he took over as United boss in January, and it leaves his side still third in the Premier League but ahead of fourth-placed Aston Villa on goal difference alone ahead of a weekend visit to Chelsea, who would move to within four points of United with five games to play, should they win.
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And with Martinez now facing a three-game suspension and Harry Maguire still waiting to learn whether his ban will be extended by another match, it was an altogether bad night for the Red Devils.
Both Carrick and Fernandes, however, were adamant that it was an incorrect decision to send Martinez off following an intervention from VAR.
Carrick described it as a "shocking, shocking decision".
"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," he told Sky Sports.
"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.
"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 send off.
"Worse of all, he gets send to overturn it, a clear and obvious error. Shocking."
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Fernandes was also interviewed by Sky Sports after the game and said "it's better that I don't say anything", but the Portuguese still managed to make his feelings abundantly clear, claiming the rules are 'different' for United.
“If I talk about the referee I will get in a big trouble," he said.
“I don’t want to talk about it because the rules are different for everyone, applied different for everyone.
"The difference in the yellow cards, you can also see it. It's better that I don't say anything."
Mark Holmes