Roy Keane has said Lisandro Martinez’s controversial red card against Leeds has become a ‘distraction’ to a poor Manchester United performance.
Martinez was dismissed for making contact with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair during the club’s 2-1 defeat to Leeds at Old Trafford on Monday night.
The incident was deemed violent conduct, a decision Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick blasted as one of the worst he had seen.
Keane has questioned the outrage of the decision. He said the anger should be directed at a poor performance, slamming a poor start that saw the Red Devils trail 2-0 at the time of Martinez’s red card.
“I’m amazed that after the game, everyone’s angry about the sending off. What about the performance? Especially that first half,” Keane said on The Overlap Podcast.
“You know what? The sending off has become a distraction. No you were 0-2 down at the time. Be angry about how you started the game so slowly. It feels like a distraction for everyone. All anyone talks about is the red card.
“That red card was a convenient distraction for United. The manager [Carrick] is getting angry in the media about it, but no get angry with the team for starting the game like that against Leeds. Oh my god. How can you start a game with no energy?”
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