Why Lisandro Martinez escaped red card against Chelsea
Manchester United and Chelsea played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford
The Premier League has defended referee Robert Jones’ decision not to send off Lisandro Martinez after a controversial tackle on Cole Palmer in Manchester United’s recent clash with Chelsea.
Martinez started Sunday’s match as United’s center-back alongside Matthijs de Ligt.
The hosts took the lead with a penalty converted by captain Bruno Fernandes with 20 minutes left on the clock.
However, Chelsea equalised just four minutes later through Moises Caicedo, securing a hard-fought point for the Blues.
In the third minute of injury time, the game’s final flashpoint occurred when Lisandro Martinez made a reckless, studs-up challenge on Palmer.
The Argentina international caught Palmer on the knee without making contact with the ball, which had already flown out of reach.
Despite the dangerous nature of the tackle, referee Jones only issued a yellow card. VAR official Michael Salisbury reviewed the incident but did not recommend upgrading the booking to a red card.
The Premier League has since confirmed that it supports Jones’ decision, stating that the yellow card was deemed an appropriate sanction for the challenge.
The statement read: “The referee issued a yellow card to Martinez for a challenge on Palmer.
“VAR checked for a potential red card and confirmed the referee’s call of no red card, deeming that it was a reckless challenge.”
However, former Manchester United star Dion Dublin believes Lisandro Martinez was lucky to remain on the pitch.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: “Martinez seems to show his studs.
“Palmer puts the ball over his head. Martinez lifts his foot and brings him down.
“He’s very lucky.”
On the assessment of United’s performance, Roy Keane told Sky Sports: “Ruben Amorim should have signed a longer contract.
“There’s a long way back for this team.
“This is an average United team, all the stats back it up.
“We are repeating ourselves, we don’t know what we are going to get from them – it’s hit and miss.
“This United team, boring, might be a bit strong. At the end it was a bit more open, but really disappointed – it was so flat. From the managers point of view, this team is way off it.
“A really disappointing performance. United are a bit average at everything and they are not special.
“The lack of goals is hard to believe.
“When you look at United, they play for moments.
“That’s nowhere near good enough for a United team.”
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