Martinez red card and penalty gift Chelsea win as Carrick urged to drop United defender permanently

Lisandro Martinez’s moment of madness at Stamford Bridge on Saturday cost Manchester United dearly, as the defender was dismissed for a second bookable offence after catching Wesley Fofana in the face, with the incident also resulting in a penalty that Cole Palmer converted to put Chelsea 2-0 up. The red card left a 10-man United side chasing their first win in nine games and heaped further pressure on manager Michael Carrick.

Martinez had already been booked for giving away the free-kick that led to the penalty incident when he leapt into Fofana leading with his arm, with no realistic chance of winning the ball. VAR flagged the collision for referee Peter Bankes, who showed the Argentine a second yellow. Carrick notably ignored Martinez as the defender trudged off the pitch.

United legend Peter Schmeichel was scathing in his assessment. “I put this solely on Lisandro Martinez’s shoulders. This is an absolute disgrace how he played this game,” Schmeichel said. “Two weeks ago he came out and made some very, very strong statements against his teammates, against the football club, and it felt like he was trying to orchestrate a move. He’s in the last year of his contract. What he did today, honestly, I have no words.”

Schmeichel also criticised Martinez’s defending for Chelsea’s opening goal. “He’s played a World Cup final, you can’t defend the way he defended for the first goal and the penalty. Then he walks off the pitch shaking his head as if he’s done nothing wrong. So bad.”

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said he would not recall Martinez even after the mandatory one-game suspension is served. “No, I wouldn’t, only because he looks like he has already gone,” Murphy said. “You have to put the club first. Michael has got to make some big decisions. You can’t have a liability in your team. His head isn’t right. He is not going to be there long term, that is evident.”

Murphy reiterated the point on Match of the Day, citing a pattern of poor performances and off-field controversy. “There was the Solanke goal, the interview, the rants, and today his performance in the second half was just nowhere near it.”

Martinez, 28, has eight months remaining on his contract and was fined last month after publicly criticising United’s director of football Jason Wilcox, accusing the board of failing to adequately strengthen the squad in the summer transfer window. The cumulative effect of those incidents has led to widespread speculation that the ex-Ajax defender is engineering an exit, with Saturday’s display doing little to counter that narrative.