Leicester City: Steve Cooper makes Old Trafford intimidation claim after Man United loss | OneFootball

The Foxes were on the wrong end of a seven-goal scoreline on Wednesday evening.

Leicester City boss Steve Cooper described Old Trafford as a good place to play after losing 5-2 to Manchester United in the EFL Cup, highlighting the lack of an intimidating atmosphere.

Unsurprisingly, but potentially annoyingly for Man United fans, the first game after the sacking of Erik ten Hag produced a big reaction from the players, who finally looked like they had some life in them after a dismal start to the new season.

Nevertheless, whatever prompted them to put in a better performance, they are into the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. They will travel to Tottenham Hotspur - the team that arguably put the final nail in ten Hag's Man United coffin - for the next round of the cup.

Their win over Leicester was a mix of exquisite pieces of play and a decent amount of luck. Casemiro's first, and opening, goal of the game perfectly surmised the capabilities of some of the players in Man United's squad. Bending the ball into the top corner, via the crossbar, from over 25 yards out, the Brazilian got the Ruud Van Nistelrooy era at Old Trafford off to a bang.

The goals then flowed from there. Alejandro Garnacho got on the scoresheet for the hosts before Bilal El Khannouss made it 2-1. Then United got another two goals via a deflected Bruno Fernandes free-kick and Casemiro's second, this time from much closer in.

Conor Coady got another back for the Foxes before half-time, but, in the 59th minute, Fernandes wrapped it up when he pounced on a loose ball from Caleb Okoli, rounded goalkeeper Danny Ward and smacked it into the back of the net in front of the Stretford End.

Despite the scoreline, the Leicester boss said that he won't be having too many nightmares about his latest visit to Old Trafford.

Steve Cooper's bold Old Trafford claim

Cooper said, as per Simon Stone, that he was anticipating the home of the Red Devils to be a more overwhelming place to go to. "It wasn’t what we were expecting. It wasn’t intimidating at all. It was good to play in."

One extra negative on top of being knocked out of the cup is that a card that Cooper picked up in the game is now set to keep him away from the sideline against fellow relegation battlers Ipswich Town this weekend.

He was booked for his remonstrations about the host's second goal, which he believed to be offside.

Cooper maintained his stance about the goal after the game. He said, via Leicestershire Live: "Maybe there’s a bit of sympathy for the linesman. He’s a Premier League linesman and he’s used to the protection of VAR.

"But he can’t make a mistake like that. It was a big moment in the game. We score soon after and it should be 1-1. It’s 2-1. The referee’s enjoyed giving me a yellow card as well.

"He looked like he had a good time tonight. That was that. But I want to stand up for my team. You can’t just see an image on the bench and just accept it."

Man U's interim boss agreed with Cooper that his side were helped by bits of luck here and there in the game.

Steve Cooper needs to be careful with post-match comments

Whoever took the job at Leicester this season was always going to be under pressure from the get-go. Despite winning the league, City were not in a good position heading into their return to the English top flight.

Cooper has got the team playing better in recent weeks, picking up two victories in their last three Premier League games, but he is by no means completely secure in his job.

There will still be some section of the fanbase that isn't 100 percent sold on him yet. Those people probably won't be particularly pleased by him saying that Old Trafford was a good place to play after watching their team lose 5-2 and get knocked out of the cup.