Lisandro Martinez controversy dragged up again after Man Utd anger denied | Football | Sport
Gabriel Magalhaes appeared to tug Erling Haaland’s hair during Manchester City’s victory over Arsenal. Footage from one of their clashes seemingly showed the Brazil international grabbing his opponent’s man bun as he clambered over the City striker after the pair contested for a header.
Gabriel had his left hand on Haaland’s shoulder while jumping and maintained his grip before the duo began to lose their footing. As he tumbled to his right, the defender’s hand slipped from the Norwegian’s shoulder and appeared to latch onto his rival’s hair, and that extra contact dragged Haaland down and pulled his bun apart.
The incident bears a striking resemblance to when Lisandro Martinez was shown a red card against Leeds United after doing something comparable to Dominic Calvert-Lewin during the defeat at Old Trafford. Referee Paul Tierney dismissed the United defender following a video assistant referee review from John Brooks. United were left furious with the decision but their appeal against Martinez’s red card was unsuccessful.
Gabriel, meanwhile, escaped without so much as a booking. Brentford’s Dango Ouattara also appeared to pull Calvin Bassey’s hair while challenging the Fulham player during their match last weekend.
After shoving the Nigeria international with his left forearm, Ouattara’s hand rose towards Bassey’s braids and appeared to make contact with them. Nevertheless, his opponent raised no complaint following the incident.
Dermot Gallagher backed the decision not to dismiss the Brentford forward. The former Premier League referee told Sky Sports News on Ref Watch: “Play on, no conclusive evidence that he’s done it.
He also spoke more generally about hair-pulling after all these recent instances. Gallagher said: “It falls under violent conduct because it’s got to fall under something, but it’s a very personal offence, isn’t it? But let’s be clear about this, in that situation, there is no conclusive evidence that Dango pulled his hair, so we don’t want referees chucking red cards about on a maybe.”
Jay Bothroyd drew the comparison to Martinez. The former player-turned-pundit said: “He has touched his hair, for me there, I don’t think he’s done it intentionally, that’s for sure. I think that will come under the realm of Martinez. I don’t think Martinez has pulled his hair intentionally. I think there’s going to be contact with his hair, you know, players will say, I think Calvert-Lewin did say, ‘I felt it’, but I don’t think it was intentional.”
Bothroyd also added: “I don’t think Martinez pulled the player’s hair; I just think his hand got tangled in it.”
