Luton chief explains why referee Anthony Taylor didn't play any extra time during FA Cup exit

Hatters boss Rob Edwards has explained exactly why there was no injury time played during his side’s FA Cup exit at the hands of Manchester City on Tuesday evening.

World Cup Finals referee Anthony Taylor had taken charge of the game, the hugely experienced official having a somewhat controversial night, as he blew for a number of fouls against Town defenders when they looked to engage with the virtually unplayable Erling Haaland, while Carlton Morris was then penalised at the other end for attempting exactly the same thing as the Norwegian international had been doing. He also played advantage for the visitors in the second half, giving them the opportunity to clear the ball away from danger and move over the half way line, only to bring it back once they lost possession, as he incurred the wrath of the Kenilworth Road crowd both during the contest and at the final whistle, Pep Guardiola’s side having run out 6-2 winners.

That final shrill blast had arrived just one second over the allotted 90 minutes, to real bemusement from supporters in the home stands, as both sides had made seven substitutions in total, those coming in three blocks, with such an amount of activity from the bench leading to a far greater period tagged on to Premier League matches this term. However, with it being the FA Cup, it appears the rules are different, as asked if he had got an answer on just why the game was ended so speedily, Edwards revealed it had been agreed by both sides in the closing stages, saying: “They’d (officials) spoken to us. If it was the league it can’t happen, but it was unlikely in extra time that we were going to score four, so the game was pretty much done. They were happy, I thought, yeah, I’m happy, let’s just get out of here now, so that was why. In the league you can’t as you’ve got to be fair, its got to be fair games with goal difference, so there would have probably been another nine minutes and that would have been interesting.”