Martinez's red-card meltdown at Stamford Bridge deepens Manchester United's crisis under Carrick

Lisandro Martinez was the first Manchester United player to publicly break ranks over how the club is run. At Stamford Bridge, though, the defender did his own side far more damage than any criticism of the board could, and a season already in trouble slipped further away from Michael Carrick.

United lost 2-0 to Chelsea, a result that stretched their winless run to nine games. The turning point came when Martinez, trying to defend a cross, led with his arm and caught Wesley Fofana in the face. It was his second yellow card, and he was sent off. The talkSPORT account calls it an act of self-sabotage. Martinez was reportedly so angry that teammates had to escort him off the pitch.

It was not his only mistake of the afternoon. Earlier, Morgan Rogers had gone past him and dinked the opening goal over Senne Lammens, with the United defence, in the report's words, parting like the Red Sea. After the dismissal, Chelsea were awarded a penalty. Cole Palmer was never likely to miss it, and at 2-0 down with ten men United had little chance of a recovery.

The piece notes that Martinez is known to want to leave United, and argues he should be made an example of. It also points out that the squad has little cover at centre-back, because the board chose not to strengthen that area in the summer. The writer says Martinez should make another public apology to his manager, teammates and fans.

The frustrating part for Carrick is that his team had played well before any of this. By the report's reckoning, the first half was arguably United's best 45 minutes of a season that is coming apart quickly. Captain Bruno Fernandes was back in the starting eleven after he and Carrick patched things up. He had publicly complained about a lack of pressing after the 4-1 defeat at Como, and this time he led the press himself. The travelling fans sang his name during the warm-up.

Fernandes also looked calmer than usual. He got straight back up after going down when he thought he had been fouled, and he encouraged Amad Diallo rather than berating him when Amad shot instead of squaring the ball to him in a better position. Fernandes himself ballooned one good chance into the Matthew Harding stand after a quick counter-attack. He then whipped a ball across the six-yard box that just missed Bryan Mbeumo at the far post, and played Amad in with a fine ball around the corner. Amad, who has not scored since December, could not keep his shot down.

The United supporters were encouraged by the performance, but they used the day to say who they hold responsible for the state of the club. They sang about sticking the new stadium and told owners to sell up, aiming the songs at Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers. Sporting director Jason Wilcox also drew their anger, while Carrick was again sung about positively. Carrick sent his players out early for the second half, presumably encouraged by what he had seen. Chelsea scored twice in 14 minutes to win the game, and by the end the home fans were taunting Carrick with chants of 'we want you to stay.'

The writer says Carrick needs results at home to Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday and against Aston Villa the following Sunday, or his position will become untenable.