Michael Carrick left angered by 'big' referee decision as Middlesbrough lose to Sunderland
Michael Carrick was left questioning how Sunderland weren't down to ten men very early in the Wear-Tees derby - with the Boro boss feeling Trai Hume should have seen red for a challenge of Emmanuel Latte Lath.
The Sunderland full-back lunged into a challenge of Boro's striker just outside the box as Finn Azaz looked to slide the Ivorian in behind. Booked for the incident, replays showed that Hume might have been fortunate to only receive a yellow card for the heavy challenge.
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That was certainly the feeling of the Boro head coach post-match as he questioned how on earth Hume stayed on the pitch in a game that Carrick's side would ultimately go on to lose 1-0 at the Stadium of Light.
Carrick said: “It’s 100% a red card for the challenge on Manu. I don’t get why that’s not been given. For me, it’s a case of when’s the line of time. When it happens so early they say it’s too early so it’s a yellow card because they don’t want to send someone off. When is the time it becomes a red card?
"I don’t know. It’s a bit of a grey area for me. I don’t know if that is the reason, but it’s hard to understand why that isn’t given.I’ve not spoken to the referee about it, just the fourth official, and calmly, I may add.”
Felling the decision had a big impact on the result, Carrick continued: "In terms of how he is, he managed to get through the game. It's a massive decision. Twice we've been here with me as manager and there's been red cards which have had a massive impact on the game.
"Today was that. We spoke about that going out, managing that and playing close to the edge without going over the edge. I thought we managed that really well. But then we were relying on that when it goes the other way, and it didn't go our way."