'He's a disgrace!' - Lisandro Martinez labelled a 'dirty thug' after two-footed lunge on Adama Traore as fans rage over Man Utd defender escaping red card

The World Cup-winning Argentina international was in action for the Red Devils during their latest Premier League fixture at Fulham. He proved to be the match winner on the day, with it his effort 12 minutes from time that settled a hard-fought contest in United’s favour.

It was, however, not just Martinez’s deflected strike – which looped in over Bernd Leno – that saw him make headlines at Craven Cottage. Midway through the second-half in west London, the South American jumped into a challenge on Fulham winger Traore that could have earned him a red card on another day.

Plenty of those watching on from afar believe that Martinez was lucky to get away with a wild tackle, as @Theindigomusic1 said: “He’s a disgrace. Every week he does something like that.” @679Sk went on to say “he’s such a dirty thug and a worse footballer”, while @sammykodjoe added “always has been an incredibly dirty player”. @maccavilla69 says the challenge was a “red card all day long” and @1964gooner has stated, following a controversial dismissal for Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly against Wolves: “Come on @pgmol tell me that MLS’s tackle is a red and this isn’t even a yellow. Make it make sense for me please.”

While it was Martinez that jumped into a tackle on Adama, it was he that ended up rolling around in apparent pain. Jet-heeled forward Traore walked away unscathed and has posted his own “deserved more but we will keep working hard and improving” message on social media alongside an image of Martinez being left in a crumpled heap on the turf.

Martinez has become known as ‘The Butcher’ due to his full-blooded approach to defending, but he has never been shown a red card through 57 Premier League appearances – having moved to Old Trafford from Ajax in the summer of 2022.