Match Review: Manchester United 3-1 Fulham

In a very uneventful first half it was Fulham who started the better of the two sides, creating the better efforts and pressing well in periods.

The first booking for the home side was collected by Harry Maguire around the 20th minute with a needless foul which rules him out of the semi final against Brighton.

The lack of presence from the former Madrid duo of Casemiro & Varane is startling to see with the replacements of Maguire & McTominay being such a distance off in quality.

Again, Fulham started the livelier of the two with shots from both Antonee Robinson & Willian making David De Gea produce two fine stops.

However it was the resulting corner from Willian's shot which led to the breakthrough; with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring his first in 10 games. The Serbian scored a poachers finish with a tap in from Issa Diop's flick on in the middle of the area.

United's best chance on goal was a quick intricate move with Sancho & Scott McTominay right at the end of the first with the latter not being able to get the ball out of his feet quick enough ending in the move collapsing.

Harry Maguire continued to make needless fouls whilst walking a tightrope on a booking with many of the Old Trafford faithfuls jeering him on the ball as he slowed down the tempo of the game.

De Gea continued to show his class in goal as he pulled off a fantastic save from a looping Mitrovic header from yet another Fulham corner piece. Without the Spaniard in goal Fulham would've been home & dry.

The introduction of Antony in the second half gave United a fresh dynamic & threat going forward. After 70 minutes Antony broke with the ball with blistering pace and found Sancho at the edge of the box. The Englishman rounded the keeper and Willian blocked the ball on the line.

However, it wasn't that plain sailing as VAR got referee Chris Kavanagh to look at the monitor. Whilst looking at the incident on the monitor Fulham head coach Marco Silva was sent off for leaving his area. The referee reviewed the clip and he issued a penalty & a red card for Willian. 

It was absolute chaos as Aleksandar Mitrovic absolutely lost his head & was also shown a straight red card as he went too far in the face of the official.

Within the space of one minute Fulham received three red cards.

Bruno Fernandes eventually stepped up to the spot to convert the penalty after a lengthy wait & United had 15 minutes to play against a manager-less nine men Fulham. 

It didn't take long for United to make their advantage count as Sabitzer scored his first United goal just two minutes after their first as Fulham completely unravelled. 

Fulham made four substitutions before the end of the half at once which meant replacing more than half of their outfield players.

Bruno Fernandes couldn't help himself as he blasted in a finish to kill off a dying nine man Fulham side on the 95th minute to get his second of the game & seal United's place in the next round.

Manchester United now progress to the Semi Final and another trip to Wembley after a crazy half of football, a record 31st semi final for the side. They will need to be much better if they want to beat an inform Brighton side in April. 

Player Ratings

David De Gea - 8

Aaron Wan-Bissaka - 7

Harry Maguire - 6

Lisandro Martinez - 7

Luke Shaw - 7

Scott McTominay - 5.5

Marcel Sabitzer - 7.5

Jadon Sancho - 7.5

Bruno Fernandes - 8

Wout Weghorst - 6.5

Marcus Rashford - 7

Substitutes: Jack Butland - N/A, Diogo Dalot - N/A, Victor Lindelöf - N/A, Tyrell Malacia - N/A, Fred - N/A, Kobie Mainoo - N/A, Facundo Pellistri - N/A, Antony - 8, Anthony Elanga - N/A

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