‘Worst I’ve seen’ – Carrick rages at Martinez red card decision as Man Utd lose to Leeds

Man Utd’s Michael Carrick, speaking to Sky Sports, as per BBC Sport’s live blog: “We didn’t start the game particularly well. 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 [Lisandro Martinez] off. 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.”

On the red card: “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.”

 He continued: “The boys went for it. 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.”

On if break had an impact: “Doesn’t make any difference, to be honest;”

On learning from the loss: “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.”

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, speaking to Sky Sports: “We gave the game away in the first half. We were not up to the game straight away with our intensity. We knew they wanted to press as 1v1, we had to be better on the first ball but even better on the second ball.

“We weren’t great, we gave too much space away. We ended up going 2-0 down, we had time in the second half to turn it around but it was not possible.”

On the message at half time: “For us to lift the standard on the intensity. To be more aggressive. That’s it.”

On Man Utd’s 24-day break: “It is what it is. We are out of the FA Cup so we have to blame ourselves to be out of the game for so long. We had to prepare ourselves in the best way. We did but it wasn’t enough to win the game.”

On Lisandro Martinez’s red card: “I’m not talking about the referee. If I talk about the referee I’m going to get in very big trouble because the rules are applied differently for everyone. You can see it also in the yellow cards. It’s better that I don’t say anything.”

On what impact the result will have on their season: “It doesn’t change anything that we want to achieve. We know that our aim is to stay in the top four. It’s in our hands, we have to win our games, if we do that we’ll be in the position we want to be in at the end of the season.”

Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin speaking to Sky Sports: “It’s a massive result for us. We came here to win, that’s how we set up. We executed the game plan and came away with three points. We’re delighted.”

On Lisandro Martinez’s sending off: “I don’t know, I don’t make the rules. I felt my hair get pulled, told the ref, he makes the decisions. Unfortunate for him, whether he’s meant it or not. I hold no grudges.”

On his goalline clearance: “I was just in the moment, switched on, engaged and waiting. Doing my job. Thankfully I was there to clear the ball off the line and arguably it make up for the ones that I should’ve put away at the other end.”

On whether the result gives his team confidence: “It does. It’s important we don’t read too much into the external noise and continue to focus on what’s in front of us.

“It’s easy to come here and make history, but it doesn’t matter come the end of the season when the points tallies are in. That’s all we’re focussed on – one game after another, making sure that we stay in the Premier League.”

Leeds goalscorer Noah Okafor, speaking to Sky Sports: “I think that I can score and help the team. For this I am very happy and proud.

“But to every player, every staff member that is with us, a big compliment because we were fighting to the end and we deserved the three points.”

On his second goal: “I think I hit well, I tried because if you don’t try then the ball can’t go in. I tried and scored my second goal so really happy about that.

“It brought us even more into the game and we knew we had to defend as a team. We did well so really, really excited and happy.”

On managing the lead: “We knew the [Man Utd] goal was not at the right moment so we had another 20-30 minutes to survive. We had to defend and attack as a team. We take this and we keep looking forwards.”