Bruno Fernandes channelled Jose Mourinho's infamous 2014 media moment when declining to comment on referee Paul Tierney following Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds United at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
The Portuguese captain, visibly frustrated after the final whistle, told Sky Sports: "I'm not talking about the referee. If I talk about the referee I'm going to get in very big trouble because the rules are different for everyone and they play different for everyone."
His response bore a striking resemblance to Mourinho's viral remarks after Chelsea lost to Aston Villa 12 years ago, when the then-Blues manager said: "I prefer not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble. In big trouble. And I don't want to be in big trouble."
Michael Carrick was equally scathing in his assessment, branding the dismissal "shocking" and questioning the direction of modern football.
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The United manager said: "That's a red card then? The game's gone."
Speaking to Sky Sports, Carrick described it as "one of the worst I've ever seen" and insisted his defender had done nothing aggressive.
Carrick explained: "He's literally tickled his hair. First of all, he got a forearm smash in his face.
"As Licha is reacting to that and trying to grab all his shirt, he's off-balance a little bit with the tussle. He kind of touches the back of his head and the bobble ends up popping out."
Bruno Fernandes channelled Jose Mourinho's infamous 2014 media moment when declining to answer a question
|SKY SPORTS
The manager added: "He didn't pull. It wasn't aggressive. He didn't jolt. It wasn't anything like that."
The incident occurred in the 54th minute when Martinez and Dominic Calvert-Lewin contested for the ball.
Referee Tierney initially missed the altercation, but VAR intervened and directed him to the pitchside monitor.
After reviewing the footage, which showed Martinez pulling the Leeds striker's hair, Tierney issued a straight red card for violent conduct.
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Bruno Fernandes's response bore a striking resemblance to Mourinho's viral remarks after Chelsea lost to Aston Villa 12 years ago
|SKY SPORTS
United were already trailing 2-0 at that stage, having conceded twice in the opening half.
The dismissal left Carrick's side with 10 men for more than half an hour as they attempted to salvage something from the contest.
Fernandes provided his sixth assist of the campaign when setting up Casemiro to reduce the deficit, but the hosts could not find an equaliser.
Noah Okafor's double in the first half proved decisive as Leeds claimed their first league victory at Old Trafford since 1981.
Lisandro Martinez was sent off for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair in Man United's defeat to Leeds | REUTERSThe result marked a historic occasion for the Yorkshire club, ending a 45-year wait for an away league triumph against their fierce rivals.
For United, the defeat compounds their difficulties as they prepare for a challenging run of fixtures without their Argentine centre-back.
Martinez faces a three-match suspension that rules him out of Saturday's trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea.
He will also be unavailable for subsequent home fixtures against Brentford and Liverpool.
United currently sit seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea, but with only six matches remaining and five Champions League places potentially available through the European Performance Spot, every result carries significant weight.
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