Manchester United 3-1 Fulham: Manchester United qualified for the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday. Manager Erik ten Hag’s team fell behind against Fulham, but then turned it around after a crazy phase with two goals and three red cards.
Man Utd to semi-finals after crazy three-card phase
United won with difficulty at Craven Cottage (1-2) earlier this season in the league and did not create many chances at home on Sunday in the first half. Ten Hag again chose Wout Weghorst as striker, but the Dutchman saw that David De Gea had to make the first save. The Spanish goalkeeper kept an attempt from Issa Diop out of his goal in the third minute. Kenny Tete also saw it happen, he was in the base with the visitors, who came out better than United.
Still, the first half had few highlights. Fulham were still hoping for a penalty kick when Aleksandar Mitrovic went to the ground after an intervention by Lisandro Martínez. After a quick check, the VAR concluded that the Fulham striker went to the ground too easily. Mitrovic still laughed after the break.
Second half
Fulham started in an excellent way by taking the lead after fifty minutes. Diop extended the ball from a corner by former United player Andreas Pereira, after which Mitrovic hit the far post: 0-1.
Fulham had a strong phase after the opening goal and almost reached 0-2 via Mitrovic. However, De Gea intervened again. Ten Hag had already made a conversion shortly after Fulham’s goal. The manager brought in Antony for Scott McTominay. It then took a while for United to fight back into the game, but they did after a much-discussed moment in the 70th minute.
It started with a life-size chance from Jadon Sancho. The attack started at Antony and eventually Sancho outplayed keeper Bernd Leno. However, the attacker’s shot was deflected with his arm by attacker Willian. Referee Chris Kavanagh looked at the footage and gave the Brazilian the red card. Then the flames hit the pan and a brawl ensued between players from both teams. Mitrovic was also sent off for the way he tackled Kavanagh and manager Marco Silva had to go to the stands after commenting on the lead.
Bruno Fernandes converted the penalty to make United 1-1. With nine men, Fulham then lasted less than three minutes. Luke Shaw passed the ball from the left and Marcel Sabitzer misled keeper Leno with a clever foot movement. The match was completely overturned in just over five minutes. With nine men and without manager Silva, Fulham was unable to equalize. Fernandes put an end to all tension in extra time. The Portuguese determined the final score at 3-1.
