Former Premier League referee Graham Barber believes that VAR and Peter Bankes made the right decision to send Lisandro Martinez off during Manchester United's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.

Martinez, 28, was given his marching orders in the 63rd minute at Stamford Bridge after receiving two yellow cards within the space of four second-half minutes.

The Argentine was first booked for fouling Morgan Rogers on the edge of the United box. Rogers turned Martinez twice before halting the ex-Aston Villa man in his tracks.

From the resulting free-kick, Chelsea were awarded a corner and Martinez was tasked with marking Wesley Fofana. Martinez lost his man and ended up chasing him to the back post and elbowing him in the face while not even looking at the ball.

Bankes initially waved away Chelsea's appeals, but VAR soon recommended an on-field review for the foul. The 44-year-old eventually decided to overturn his decision, pointing to the penalty spot and brandishing a second yellow card for Martinez.

Now, Barber, who spent eight years as a top-flight referee, has delivered his verdict on the decision, saying Bankes and VAR ended up coming to the correct conclusion and sending Martinez off.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Barber said: "The first yellow card that he got, I mean, he probably fouled the player three times.

"So not only did he grab him once, then he went and grabbed him the second time, then he put his leg round him and and and pulled him down.

"And then when I saw the incident for the corner, he never looked at the ball once. I don't think he even looked at the player who was taking the corner kick, he's just come across, he hasn't looked it, he's made a beeline for the opponent and just smashed him.

"You could say they were the better team in the first half, and then he does something stupid like that, which completely changes the outcome and the game situation, so, quite an easy one for the referee and also another good example of VAR to be fair."

Martinez's red card capped off another miserable afternoon at the office for United, who extended their winless run to nine matches with defeat to Chelsea.

Despite a positive first-half performance from Michael Carrick's side, who were unfortunate not to be ahead at the break, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer scored for the Blues in the second period to condemn the Reds to a third successive defeat.

It's a result that has increased the pressure on Carrick and seen United drop down to 17th in the Premier League table, and outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

The Reds face Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, looking to record their first win since mid-September, before hosting Aston Villa in the top flight on Sunday.

They then embark on a two-week international break before returning with a daunting-looking trip to Liverpool. Whether Carrick will still be in the dugout come the game at Anfield is uncertain, but United need to turn it around fast to ensure he is kept in a job.