25 February 2024 , 11:56
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Manchester United defender Harry Maguire admitted he should have fouled Adama Traore before he set up Fulham's winner and accepted the red card that would have followed.
Trarore got away from Maguire to set up Alex Iwobi's 97th-minute winner, with the United centre-back revealing he made a mistake in not taking down the Fulham substitute. But Maguire knew a second yellow card and a subsequent red would have ruled him out of United's FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, so he chose not to bring down Traore in United's dire 2-1 loss.
“I was on a booking myself,” said Maguire. “In hindsight, maybe I should have just brought him down, but then you miss next week. It's easy to say now. We can say we should have been more cautious, we were far too naive, we can look back and assess it in terms of areas we can improve on, but ultimately over 90 minutes, we didn't do enough to win the game.
“I thought the reaction to going behind was really good. All the boys pushing, fighting, doing everything they can to get back into the game. We thoroughly deserved the equaliser.
“Then we went on and we pushed. We had all the pressure, all the momentum and the belief was there that we were going to go on and win the game. In the end, we’ve probably just thrown one too many bodies forward, left the middle of the pitch open and they’ve punished us with a clinical counter-attack.”
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Maguire, 30, also bemoaned the fact United were missing their two out-and-out strikers: Rasmus Hojlund and Anthony Martial. Speaking to BBC Sport, the England international admitted: "We got hit by the injury to Rasmus, who has been big focal point for us but it is up to us to find the solutions and the areas we need to improve on.
Your turn! Should Harry Maguire have taken the sending off? Let us know your stance in the comments section.
Harry Maguire was left with regret after Fulham's winner (DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)"He has been our focal point, we can play into him, he holds it up, he starts the press really well, not only that but Marcus [Rashford] has been playing really well on the left. It's the story of our season, we've been injury-hit - as other teams have - and we need to find a solution quick."
Maguire and his teammates will now hope to bounce back in the FA Cup fifth round at Forest. After that, it's the small matter of facing Manchester City next Sunday.