Coach Erik ten Hag had to explain his actions of withdrawing both pillars Harry Maguire and Casemiro from the field right after the first half of the match against Luton.
MU had a very good start at Kenilworth Road when Ramus Hojlund scored twice in just 7 minutes. However, the Red Devils had to fight very hard against Luton’s resistance. To preserve the 2-1 score until the end of 90 minutes, MU had to receive 5 yellow cards, of which 3 came from the first half.
Notably, among those receiving cards in the first 45 minutes were Casmeiro and Maguire. In fact, in a ball at the end of the first half, Casmeiro – who had previously received a yellow card, made a rather dangerous tackle on the Luton player. Luckily for Casmeiro, the referee did not draw another card despite great pressure from the home players.
Realizing the tense situation, Ten Hag was forced to withdraw both Casmeiro and Maguire from the field immediately after the first half, and replace them with Scott McTominay and Jonny Evans. Speaking after the match, Ten Hag said: “I saw the reaction from the referee and thought he might show a card in the next situation. So McTominay and Evans are reasonable replacements. They I don’t want to take risks. I think it’s the correct decision.”
“Even if Casemiro did not touch the opponent, he would still be carded. He is often penalized for the first foul in the match. I think this is crazy and Casemiro’s first yellow card in this match is unfair. I pulled him off the field to avoid a second yellow card. He just needs to touch the opponent to get carded.”
MU has had 4 consecutive victories in the Premier League and is only 5 points away from the Top 4. Ten Hag added: “I think we are back in the race and have perfect momentum. We need to create more pressure. Every match is a final to reach the goal.”