Michael Carrick suffered the worst defeat of his Man Utd interim tenure, losing 2-1 to Leeds in the Premier League on Monday night.
22:13, 13 Apr 2026Updated 22:30, 13 Apr 2026
Lisandro Martinez stared into space, seemingly in disbelief that he’d been sent off for yanking on Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s ponytail. Substitute Joshua Zirkzee escorted his teammate back to the dressing room.
Michael Carrick looked furious with the decision on the touchline, and a yellow card was brandished in the direction of the United dug-out for the protests. Manuel Ugarte watched it all unfold just yards away.
United were not at the races from the first whistle against Leeds on Monday night, but starting Ugarte and Martinez were perhaps the biggest reasons for the second defeat of Carrick’s interim tenure.
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Kobbie Mainoo was absent due to a small injury picked up in training. Ugarte came into the starting team with an awful record; he’d won just one game from nine as a starter this season, having lost against Grimsby Town, Manchester City, Brentford, Aston Villa and Brighton.
Ugarte had not started under Carrick until facing Leeds, and the reason for his peripheral squad role was laid bare five minutes into the game when he allowed Jayden Bogle to cross into the box for Noah Okafor’s goal.
United fans soon let Ugarte know how they felt, groaning as he delayed build-up play by standing over the ball for too long. There were louder murmurs of discontent when Ugarte butchered a pass into the box at the end of the first half, which prompted Luke Shaw to shake his head.
Something has gone hugely wrong if Ugarte is still at United next term. He has regressed in his second campaign and wasn’t performing at a high level to begin with. United must cut their losses and recoup whatever they can from the £42.3million they splashed to sign him from PSG.
Carrick may also regret the decision to start Martinez after a lay-off. The defender last played against West Ham on February 10 but came straight back into the team after recovering from injury.
Leeds’ second goal was like a Benny Hill sketch. Martinez tried to play out from the back, sending a hospital pass to Casemiro, and the subsequent attempts to clear the danger were unsuccessful.
Martinez at least redeemed himself on the stroke of half-time when he made a superb recovery to deny Leeds a three-goal advantage, but pulling on Calvert-Lewin’s hair was a daft thing to do.
VAR reviewed the incident and Martinez was shown a straight red for violent conduct. It was clear to see it was not a violent act, but Martinez was sent off because of the precedent set by the PGMOL.
United organised a training camp in the Republic of Ireland during their 24-day break between games, whereas Leeds visited Old Trafford on the back of a spirited win against West Ham in the FA Cup. “We’re the famous Leeds United and we’re going to Wembley,” was aired in the away section.
United’s trip to Ireland was described as a chance for Carrick to oversee an “intense” training period with his squad. There was nothing intense about United’s performance in a disastrous first half.
The Reds have been impacted by playing so few fixtures this season, which has made it difficult to build rhythm, but United only have themselves to blame for failing to qualify for Europe and exiting both domestic cup competitions at the first opportunity.
Nemanja Vidic and Sir Jim Ratcliffe were in the directors’ box. Ratcliffe sat with his arms crossed, and Carrick cut the same frustrated figure on the touchline as Leeds fans celebrated Okafor’s deflected second goal.
United needed the crowd to help them dig deep when they trailed by two goals, and the fans played their part. Old Trafford erupted when Casemiro headed in at the Stretford End to make it 2-1, and the result would have been different if the Brazilian hadn’t been denied another headed goal on the goal line with just minutes of normal time remaining.
The silver lining for Carrick is his side’s positive response to the sending off, but United ultimately missed an opportunity to put three points between themselves and Aston Villa in the battle to finish third in the top flight. Leeds manager Daniel Farke fell to his knees on the touchline after the final whistle.
Ruben Amorim’s final game in charge of United came against Leeds in January. Amorim talked himself out of his job during an explosive post-match press conference at Elland Road, and Carrick arrived 10 days later.
When Amorim burned his bridges with United’s hierarchy. United were in sixth position, 11 points adrift of Aston Villa in third, but Carrick has dragged United up the table, meaning United are now above Villa on goal difference, and securing a return to the Champions League is close to guaranteed.
United have six games remaining this season and must return to the form they showed in the first few weeks of Carrick’s tenure to ensure a return to Europe’s elite competition.
And although there wasn’t much doubt, Ugarte is not a player worthy of the Champions League.
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