Premier league referee explains five reasons for his errors not awarding a Red Card to Lisandro Martinez after a harsh attack on Kamada in the Man United Vs Crystal Palace game and apologizes to the Crystal Palace supporters, saying “It was not my decision.”
With regard to Lisandro Martinez’s two-footed tackle on Daichi Kamada, the Premier League has announced that VAR agreed with referee David Coote’s ruling.
Just centimeters from where Kamada was in control of the ball, Martinez leaped into the air and planted both feet in the 63rd minute of Saturday’s hotly contested 0-0 draw between Manchester United and Crystal Palace. The decision to only show Martinez a yellow card infuriated Palace’s midfielder, even though the United center-back recovered the ball and avoided contact with him.
Dean Henderson, the Palace goalkeeper, even went so far as to run outside and express his disapproval of Coote’s judgment, earning a booking in the process. The Premier League’s Match Center account confirmed that VAR had looked for a red card about fifteen minutes after the event when they released an explanation of the decision-making process on social media site X.
Their post stated, “Martinez received a yellow card from the referee for challenging Kamada.” “VAR determined that this was a careless challenge and made no contact with Kamada, verifying the referee’s ruling that there was no red card.”
Martinez faced harsh criticism for his challenge even though he did not receive a red card; observers and supporters were surprised that he did not receive a warning. Former Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton acknowledged as much when providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Live: “I am shocked that Lisandro Martinez was not sent off for that tackle; it might have fractured Kamada’s ankle and it is not the kind of tackle we want to see in our game.”
The Palace crowd jeered Martinez, 26, as he persisted in trying to assist United maintain a clean sheet. The Red Devils missed several chances to win three straight games since the international break, but the Argentine was unable to assist them in taking all three points.