19 February 2024 , 07:31
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Luton Town manager Rob Edwards has claimed only four minutes of injury time was added on in their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United because the Red Devils were winning.
Rasmus Hojlund put United 2-0 up after just seven minutes, before Carlton Morris got one back for the Hatters. Ross Barkley then came close to scoring a late equaliser when his header hit the bar and United ultimately held on for a 2-1 victory.
And when asked if he was disappointed that there were only four minutes of added time as Luton pushed for an equaliser, Edwards said : "Yeah, it's like back to last season that wasn't it? I don't know where that one came from. Man United are winning 2-1... so it's 4 minutes!"
Edwards also suggested Casemiro was lucky to escape a sending off after fouling Barkley, having already been booked for a poor challenge on defender Amari'i Bell earlier in the game.
United boss Erik ten Hag decided not to take any risks as he substituted both Casemiro and Harry Maguire, who had also been booked, at half-time in order to prevent them from potentially picking up a second yellow.
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"I think the fact that he came off at half-time maybe tells you a little bit of that story," Edwards told beIN Sports when asked if he felt Casemiro should have been sent off. "So, yeah, I think maybe he got away with one there.
"It's tough. We need decisions to go our way, but I'm not one to complain about things. In the end I think a lot of the game is in our control. We're going to keep looking, working to be even better.
Luton were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United on Sunday (PA)"But what I've seen there is a team that's pushed Manchester United all the way, dominated large spells of the game. We were vulnerable to some counter-attacks, we took some risks, we've got to be better to manage those counter-attacking moments, but there was lots there to like about that performance."
Ten Hag, meanwhile, admitted his side still look "fragile" and need to be much more "clinical" going forward. Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Dutchman said: "Fragile, because we didn't take the chances. I think we should have scored many more goals. The only thing we didn't do well was be clinical.
"Today we could have scored five goals, easily. But we are very happy with our recruitment and that we recruited the right character with Rasmus because he can perform under stress and when things go against him like in the first half of the season."
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