Man Utd fans rage as same ref allows hair pull to go unpunished five days after Martinez red

Just five days after sending off Lisando Martinez for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair, referee Paul Tierney allowed Dango Ouattara to get away with doing the same to Calvin Bassey in Brentford's draw against Fulham.

Tierney and the VAR came in for heavy criticism after Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds United in the Premier League, with Michael Carrick describing it as a "shocking, shocking decision" to show a straight red card to Martinez, who will now serve a three-match suspension.

United captain Bruno Fernandes said after the game "the rules are different for everyone, applied different for everyone", and he is unlikely to have changed his opinion after seeing Ouattara go unpunished at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

United supporters are certainly not likely to change their opinion that they were hard done by, especially after further footage had emerged in the week of another hair pull Tierney had not punished, this time by Fulham defender Tete on Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo.

𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 — 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬!

On February 12, 2026, Fulham defender Tete deliberately pulled Semenyo’s hair inside the penalty box.

VAR reviewed the incident but deemed it not enough for further action — no… pic.twitter.com/gXGRBTECEJ

— mufcytp (@mufcytp) April 16, 2026

'IanDavidNokes' wrote of this latest incident on X, 'I can see the club seeking legal advice in the future', while wanna_be_dj said 'it's obvious the PGMOL don't want United to get anything'.

'sambukadave' said the bias against United is 'blatant', claiming some of the decisions to have gone against the club this season have been 'scary',

'Hez84', meanwhile, highlighted the quality of the officials across the league, posting: 'It’s laughable how we’re supposedly the best league in the world with players and managers from each continent, yet we suffer with English referees because it’s an English league and they make mistakes and inconsistent calls that decide fixtures but are never held accountable.

But 'AlfieVille' said it was the VAR rather than Tierney that had been inconsistent, tweeting: 'Tierney actually showed consistency in letting both go until one VAR basically forced him to send Martinez off. The first one didn't. Can't stand any ref but let's get it right.'

🤔 FUN FACT!

Referee Paul Tierney was the official for both matches!

That’s shameful from him and @premierleague @FA_PGMOL pic.twitter.com/zqIOSHwEXP

— SimplyUtd (@SimplyUtd) April 18, 2026

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United face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a crucial game in the race for Champions League spots on Saturday evening, with a win taking the Red Devils 10 points clear of the sixth-placed Blues but a victory for the home side moving them to within four points of Carrick's side with five games remaining to play after this one.

Fourth-placed Aston Villa host Sunderland on Sunday, while fifth-placed Liverpool face a Merseyside derby at Everton.

The Premier League is guaranteed to have at least five teams in the Champions League next season due to the UEFA coefficient table and will have a sixth representative for the second season in row should Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest win the Europa League.