Why Man Utd's Lisandro Martinez was not shown a red card against Chelsea

"There are 75,000 people waiting and millions watching at home," Ruud van Nistelrooy warned, trying to add another layer of importance to Manchester United's Premier League meeting with Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon

Almost every single one of those spectators were united in their surprise at the referee's decision not to show Lisandro Martinez a red card. The Argentine centre-back had the ball knocked over his head in the closing stages of a tepid 1-1 draw by Cole Palmer and scraped his studs across the playmaker's kneecap.

The on-pitch official Robert Jones initially tried to play advantage before bringing the game back for a free kick near the halfway line. Jones booked Martinez, a surprising decision which was even more unexpectedly backed up by VAR Michael Salisbury at Stockley Park.

Lisandro Martinez (centre) tangled with Cole Palmer / Michael Regan/GettyImages

Palmer had little joy on Sunday afternoon, only peppering the contest with some delightful touches rather than dominating proceedings. Chelsea's ephemeral talisman saved a lovely flick for second-half stoppage time, sending the ball in a perfect parabola over the head of an onrushing Martinez, like a matador whipping his cape away from a charging bull.

Unfortunately for Palmer, he didn't dodge Martinez's horns. United's centre-back stretched out his boot but was nowhere near the ball when he made contact with his opponent's knee. This wild lunge was judged by the VAR to have been "a reckless challenge and not serious foul play" according to the Premier League's official Match Centre X account.

As outlined in Law 12 of the FA Handbook, "serious foul play" - the threshold for a red card - is defined as "a tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality".

A "reckless" challenge is "when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent".

Ultimately, this is a subjective decision which could quite easily have gone either way. There is every chance that had Jones shown Martinez a red card on the pitch, VAR would not have overruled that decision.

Reaction to Lisandro Martinez's challenge on Cole Palmer

Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane was initially reluctant to wade in on Martinez's lunge, but did concede that the Argentine was "a lucky boy". "If he got sent off, there could be no complaints," the former United midfielder shrugged.

Those on social media reacted rather more strongly.

This is football discourse after all, so not everyone was in agreement.

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