Credit: Imago

Daniel Lewis

Wed 15 April 2026 7:10, UK

Manchester United look set to win their appeal against Lisandro Martinez’s sending off against Leeds United.

That is the view of former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett, who shared his views exclusively to MOT Leeds News.

Centre-back Martinez was sent off 10 minutes into the second half of Leeds’ 2-1 win over Man United at Old Trafford on Monday night.

The Argentina international pulled back on Dominic Calvert-Lewin‘s hair and, after Paul Tierney had been asked by VAR to check the pitchside monitor, he was sent off for violent conduct.

The dismissal was a big part in Leeds’ win over fierce rivals Man United, but it appears the referee got the decision wrong.

Paul Tierney told he shouldn’t have sent Lisandro Martinez off

As far as everyone connected to Leeds are concerned, Tierney absolutely made the right choice in sending off Martinez.

As we saw with Everton’s Michael Keane on Tolu Arokodare earlier this season, pulling on an opponent’s hair is a red card offence.

Martinez, who was only just returning from an injury layoff, is due to miss another three games as a result of the sending off.

However, it was reported on Tuesday that Man United intend to appeal the dismissal. And in the view of Hackett, they are likely to win that case.

“Martinez was dismissed under the law of violent conduct,” he said. “When you see replays of this incident, I frankly can’t understand how the referee can come to the decision that it is a red card.

“I didn’t see any movement of Calvert-Lewin’s head jerking backwards. If the panel judging the incident sticks to law, then the appeal by Manchester United will succeed.”

Leeds fans will ultimately not care what way the appeal goes, as it will not do anything to diminish what was a memorable win at Old Trafford.

What are the precedents for similar incidents?

Hackett is not alone in being surprised Martinez was sent off. Alan Shearer, speaking to the BBC, said it was “never a red card”.

Keane’s red card stood earlier this season, although it was only a couple of seasons back that Cristian Romero got away with pulling on Marc Cucurella’s hair.

Ultimately it depends on what you define as violent conduct. Strictly speaking, it was not particularly violent.

But the precedent was surely set with the Keane decision earlier this season, which suggests Martinez may not be as lucky as Hackett suggests.

Either way, the outcome of this came may well determine whether players are sent off for something similar in the future.