Manchester United captain Harry Maguire admits his side were pushed to the limit by League One Charlton Athletic in Tuesday’s 3-0 win in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
The Red Devils took an early lead when Antony picked out the top corner with an incredible curling effort, and it looked likely the hosts would cruise to victory.
However, United were unable to make their chances count until second half stoppage time when Marcus Rashford came off the bench to grab a brace.
Though Erik ten Hag’s men were never truly threatened by Charlton, there were murmurs of discontent throughout the second half at Old Trafford as United failed to add to their first half strike.
Speaking post-match, Maguire insisted Charlton – backed by around 9,000 travelling fans – made life difficult because League One is a tough division, citing his previous experience with Sheffield United at the beginning of his career.
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“We know that they knocked out Brighton in the last round. I’ve played in League One myself, there’s some tough opponents there, they have some good players,” Maguire said.
“I think if we got the second goal [earlier] and we’d been a little bit more clinical after scoring a great first goal, it would have been a more comfortable night. But when it’s only 1-0, they’re always in the game.
“Every time they put the ball in the box they’ve got all the fans behind the goal who followed them in their numbers and were loud all night.
“It made it nervy and edgy but Rashy did what he did, to come on and score two great goals and made it a comfortable night in the end.”
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