Football must outlaw reckless tackles such as Martinez’s – he could have ended Palmer’s career

Martinez went in studs up and raked his boot down Palmer's leg - Football must outlaw reckless tackles such as Martinez's – he could have ended Palmer's career
Lisandro Martinez went in studs up and raked his boot down Cole Palmer’s leg in the dying minutes of the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford - PA/Martin Rickett

The type of tackle Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez unleashed on Chelsea’s Cole Palmer should be outlawed from football before a player is seriously injured.

In the dying moments of the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, Martinez went in studs up and raked his boot down Palmer’s leg, he deservedly was shown a yellow card, but it should have been red.

The landing area of the boot was on Palmer’s knee and quite clearly it endangered the player’s safety. Referee Rob Jones was in a good position to view the incident and decided yellow. He probably concluded that there was insufficient force behind Martinez’s challenger to warrant a stronger sanction.

That for me was a clear and obvious error and VAR should have asked the referee to go and review the incident on the pitch-side monitor.

Lisandro Martinez shown a yellow card against Chelsea
Martinez was only shown a yellow card for the tackle, but it could so easily have been a red - Getty Images/Carl Recine

We have seen a lot of yellow cards this season but the laws, which were penned to protect players by issuing red cards, should be enforced when appropriate.

Not surprisingly Sky Sports’ matchday pundits Roy Keane, Frank Lampard and Jamie Redknapp all came to the same conclusion that Martinez’s tackle had been reckless and Palmer was lucky that there had not been greater contact. It was the type of tackle that can end a player’s career.

The Professional Game Match Officials Ltd should be more rigorous in enforcing this policy.

Jones has had his career enhanced this season by taking charge of some big matches and this game at Old Trafford was probably his biggest yet, but he has been let down on this occasion by VAR.

However, I have to give Jones credit for his decision to award Manchester United a penalty earlier in the game when Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez caught Rasmus Hojlund’s foot and brought him down in the penalty area.

The decision was 100 per cent correct. It was a poorly judged and badly executed challenge by the goalkeeper.


Martinez lucky to escape red for ‘nasty’ challenge, say pundits

Cole Palmer in pain
Cole Plamer could have been badly hurt by the tackle from Lisandro Martinez - PA/Martin Rickett

Sky Sports pundits unanimously condemned officials for sparing Lisandro Martinez a red card for his “reckless” and “nasty” challenge on Cole Palmer in the closing minutes of Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

A VAR review of Martinez’s studs-up challenge on the England forward sided with referee Robert Jones’s initial conclusion that the foul did not amount to “serious foul play”.

Gary Neville immediately said on co-commentary that he believed the referee had made a mistake, and Roy Keane, Frank Lampard and Jamie Redknapp all agreed Martinez had been “lucky”.

With Martinez escaping with a yellow card, Keane said: “The lad’s a lucky boy. He won’t be happy with Palmer making a fool of him and he’s obviously gone in there... it’s a nasty tackle.”

Keane, who received 11 red cards during his time at Old Trafford, acknowledged he was well-qualified to spot a bad foul.

“Obviously, I’m always wary of criticising players for tackles because I done some daft stuff,” he said. “He’s a lucky boy,” the Irishman added. “I don’t think he does catch him properly – it’s down the side of his leg.... But if he got sent off, I’d say there’d be no complaints.”

Lampard added: “I think it’s red card for intention... After a bit of skill, he knew he was late, and he’s gone ‘I’m gonna leave a bit on you’.”

Redknapp added that the challenge was “reckless and it’s nasty”. “He knows exactly what he’s doing,” the former Tottenham and Liverpool midfielder said. “He’s been made to look a fool and he’s come in and just thought ‘have some of that’... he’s just got that nasty streak in him. I don’t mind a bit of aggression, but look how high he gets his leg. There’s no need for it.”

The pundits had been bitterly critical over the quality of football throughout the match on Sunday, with Keane saying he was looking forward to the final whistle.

Moises Caicedo had cancelled out a Bruno Fernandes’ penalty as visitors Chelsea secured a hard-fought point to climb above Arsenal in the Premier League table.

The PGMOL – the refereeing body of English football – later explained why Martinez avoided a red card during the incident with a minute remaining of the match. VAR Michael Salisbury reviewed the incident but did not upgrade to a red.

“The referee issued a yellow card to Martinez for a challenge on Palmer,” the match centre said later. “VAR checked for a potential red card and confirmed the referee’s call of no red card, deeming that it was a reckless challenge and not serious foul play.”