Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick felt Luton’s match-winning penalty should never have been given in his side’s 2-1 defeat by their play-off rivals at Kenilworth Road.
The visitors took a first-half lead through Cameron Archer but the Hatters hit back after the break, with Tom Lockyer heading in and then Carlton Morris converting after being brought down by Zack Steffen. However, the spot-kick should not have been awarded by referee Graham Scott, according to Carrick.
He said: “A penalty like that, luckily we can laugh it off today in some ways, but I do wonder, with the referees being in the Premier League and then used to VAR and then not having it, I think it gives them a bit of insurance.
“This is not directly to the referee tonight, it’s something in general to look at. Tonight didn’t count for too much in the end but it could be a crucial decision at some point. Whether it’s this season or next season, referees coming down it is very different when you haven’t got the security for the big, big decisions.
“I’m not moaning about tonight, it is what it is, it was never a penalty, of course it wasn’t, but it’s something to think about moving forward.”
After Matt Crooks fired over the top in the first half, the midfielder’s pass released Archer on 40 minutes, who beat the tame efforts of home keeper Ethan Horvath and then walked the ball into the net.
Luton were level four minutes after the interval when Lockyer headed home Alfie Doughty’s corner. Morris scored his controversial penalty midway through the second half and although Boro pressed for a leveller, the hosts dug in to see the victory out.
On the penalty, Hatters boss Rob Edwards said: “There’s some contact there on Carlton. We’ve watched it back a few times, you need a certain angle, there is contact so he’s gone down. If I was in their position, you look at certain angles, you’d be disappointed, but from the angle I’ve seen, there’s contact, he’s gone down, penalty.
“Credit to the lads, I thought the response was really good. Middlesbrough showed how good they are, the job that he’s done, Michael with his staff, they’ve done a really good job and that’s obvious, everyone knows that, everyone’s seen that.
“When you go up against them, you can see the quality that they have. They overload you, they’ve got threats in behind and they can build slow as well. Tonight was always going to be a really tough game and also a mindset thing as well, both teams knew they were in the play-offs, but pleased with the response.
“We showed some good things but I do think we could be better.”
