MANCHESTER, England, April 13 (Reuters) - Leeds United's Noah Okafor scored twice as his side grabbed a morale-boosting 2-1 Premier League away win over bitter rivals Manchester United, who had Lisandro Martinez sent off in the 56th minute for pulling the hair of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Manchester United remain third in the table on 55 points, ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference, while 15th-placed Leeds put some more daylight between them and the teams battling relegation by moving up to 36 points, six ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in 18th.
The home side were returning to action after a long period of inactivity due to the recent international break, but instead of looking fresh and rested, they looked rusty as Leeds pressed them hard, repeatedly winning the ball high up the pitch en route to a well-deserved win.
Leeds striker Calvert-Lewin had an early chance only to see his close-range first-time shot hit the home side’s keeper Senne Lammens, and Manchester United failed to heed that warning as the visitors took the lead shortly afterwards, Okafor side-footing home from a cross.
Okafor added a second in the 29th minute as United spurned a number of chances to clear the ball before the midfielder thumped a shot from just outside the box that deflected off Leny Yoro and into the net.
Only a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Martinez prevented the home side from going into the break three goals down as Leeds midfielder Ao Tanaka snapped up yet another loose pass and bore down on goal, but the Argentine defender swooped in to prevent the ball from crossing the line.
Martinez was then shown a straight red card early in the second halfafter he was adjudged to have pulled Calvert-Lewin’s hair in a VAR review.
Despite going down to 10 men, Casemiro threw his side a lifeline by pulling a goal back in the 69th minute as Bruno Fernandes sent a deep cross to the back post, and the Brazilian headed it back across the goal to score.
Casemiro went close again in the 85th minute but this time his effort cleared off the line, and a follow-up from Manuel Ugarte was also blocked as the Leeds rearguard held firm to secure the three points.
"It's a massive result for us. We came here to win, that's how we set up. We executed the game plan and came away with three points. We're delighted," Calvert-Lewin told Sky Sports.
Manchester United manager Michael Carrick was angry about a number of refereeing decisions, not least the red card for Martinez.
"Second half, I thought the boys, the way they went about it, stayed positive and fought to get something out of it after another shocking, shocking decision to send him (Martinez) off ... that was one of the worst (decisions) I've seen," he said.
"This is one game, we'll certainly look at it and look to improve. We've got another big game (against Chelsea on Saturday), an important game next week and a big end to the season."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
