Gary Neville delivers honest Lisandro Martinez Man United red card verdict after VAR statement

Gary Neville believed Lisandro Martinez was 'asking for a red card', then called the Manchester United defender 'lucky' for escaping such punishment after his challenge on Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer.

United were held by Chelsea at Old Trafford with Moises Caicedo cancelling out Bruno Fernandes' second-half penalty. But it wasn't the goals that were immediately up for discussion after the final whistle, as that fell to the late foul committed by Martinez.

The 26-year-old's studs made contact with the knee of Palmer as he misjudged a challenge on his opponent. Chelsea were furious, though referee Rob Jones only showed the yellow card.

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"As a professional, I think that one where you leave your studs, you know you’re not getting the ball and you go in knee-high, to be fair you’re asking for a red card," said former United captain Neville in immediate reaction, providing commentary for Sky Sports.

VAR Michael Salisbury then reviewed the challenge, coming to the final conclusion that it was only worthy of the yellow and recommended no further action needed to take place.

"I think he’s lucky," Neville responded. "I think when you go knee-high and the ball’s gone, with studs, I’m not quite sure what sort of interpretation it is but I think that is a red."

Since then the Premier League have posted their own statement, which read: "The referee issued a yellow card to Martinez for a challenge on Palmer. VAR checked for a potential red card and confirmed the referee’s call of no red card, deeming that it was a reckless challenge."

This is in line with what former top-flight referee-turned-pundit, Mike Dean, told Sky Sports viewers, as he said: "He’s come down, he’s just caught the end of his knee with his studs. There’s not a lot of force in it, it’s more of a glancing blow down across his knee rather than endangering the safety of an opponent."

Not long ago Martinez was also subject to debate for a similarly-judged reckless challenge against Crystal Palace. Today's booking is his fourth of the season, meaning one more would trigger an automatic one-game suspension.