Erik ten Hag slams treatment of Casemiro after Luton red card scare
- Casemiro was withdrawn at half-time of United's 2-1 win over Luton
- Brazil midfielder had been booked & was fortunate to avoid an early red card
- Luton boss Rob Edwards was disappointed with the decision to not send Casemiro off
By Tom Gott
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hit out at Premier League referees for their treatment of midfielder Casemiro this season.
The Brazil international was withdrawn at half-time of Sunday's 2-1 victory after finding himself embroiled in controversy.
Casemiro picked up a yellow card for a foul on Amari'i Bell before escaping further punishment when a foul on Ross Barkley did not see the 31-year-old sent for an early bath, and Ten Hag made the most of the stroke of luck by hooking Casemiro off at the interval.
After the game, Ten Hag conceded that Casemiro should have been sent off after his foul on Barkley but lashed out at the officials for putting the midfielder in that situation with an unfair yellow card earlier in the game.
"I don't think it's a booking, the first one," Ten Hag began. "Again, with Casemiro, it’s very harsh to concede the first booking and I don't understand why. And then of course, in the second, that was a booking. Very clear.
"But I think also the referee knows what's going on with the first one. And I think the refereeing in general, it can't be all the time Casemiro, by his first tackle, they book him."
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Luton boss Rob Edwards was left frustrated to see United given the chance to replace Casemiro when they could have been forced to compete with ten players for the majority of the game instead.
"The fact that he came off at half-time might be a little bit of a telltale sign to how I feel about that one," he said after the game. "I'm not going to complain about it right now."
Edwards was also unimpressed with the decision to add just four minutes on at the end of the game, suggesting Luton had been the victims of bias from the officials.
"I don’t know where that one came from," he said. "Man Utd are winning 2-1... so it’s 4 minutes!"
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