Leicester City were beaten 5-2 by Manchester United at Old Trafford in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
The Foxes were aiming to continue their excellent record of making it to at least the quarter-final stage of the competition when they traveled to Old Trafford in midweek.
Leicester City faced lower-league opposition in the second and third rounds but knew a tough tie awaited them this time around.
Manchester United have just sacked Erik ten Hag and their players were likely eager to prove themselves to their incoming manager when they welcomed Leicester to their ground.
When all was said and done, the Midlands outfit crashed out of the Carabao Cup by a rather worrying 5-2 scoreline.
Leicester’s backline was especially poor on the night with James Justin really struggling against Manchester United.
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Steve Cooper hits out at linesman after Manchester United vs Leicester City
Casemior gave Manchester United the lead after 15 minutes with a superb strike from outside the box.
Goals from Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and a second from the Brazilian midfielder put the Red Devils 4-1 up before a Conor Coady effort gave Leicester some hope of a comeback.
That hope was quickly put to bed after 59 minutes, however, when Fernandes netted his second goal of the evening to see United progress into the quarter-finals.
Following the defeat, Steve Cooper spoke to the media on Wednesday evening and hit out at the linesman after he felt United’s second goal should have been ruled out, as per Sky Sports.
He said: “It’s a 5-2 result because of the moments around the goals – Casemiro’s brilliance, a terrible linesman’s decision, big mistakes from us, a deflection. But it’s not a 5-2 game.
“You look at the second half we were absolutely dominant. United did not get in our half and then we gave away a goal.”
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What Steve Cooper told Leicester City players after Manchester United
Despite conceding five, it is clear Cooper feels hard done by in the defeat and was rather upbeat in his assessment of how his side performed.
Speaking post-match, the Leicester boss revealed what he told his players after the game, urging them not to make mistakes like they did versus United.
He added: “I just said to the guys we can’t make mistakes like we did. There were lots of phases in the game we were completely dominant. United are a counter-attack team, they have really good players and we gave them too many moments to hurt us.
“I know this season is going to be a little bit like tonight – you do some really good things but then you have setbacks and mistakes. But we have to make sure we really focus on getting the good moments and good results. It’s always about looking forward.”
Leicester are next in action against Ipswich Town on Saturday and Cooper will no doubt be praying for a much better defensive showing from his side.