Manchester United scored three goals in the last fifteen minutes to beat Fulham 3-1 at Old Trafford and secure a place in the FA Cup semifinals.
Two of those three came in two minutes following two Fulham red cards as the hosts turned the quarter-final tie on its head.
Fulham were by far the better of the two sides in the first seventy minutes, as United looked second best and were sometimes pedestrian.
David de Gea bailed out United with two excellent saves; first, the Spanish goalkeeper kept out Willian’s curling effort before diving full stretch to keep out Mitrovic’s header from Andreas Pereira’s set piece.
The London side, however, deservedly took the lead in the 50th minute when Aleksandar Mitrovic fired home from close range following a corner.
Eric ten Hag brought on Antony for Scott McTominay as he made an attacking change to improve his lackluster side. The Brazilian immediately delivered, stretching the Fulham backline with his trickery on the wings.
Fulham’s moment of madness
In the 71st minute, Antony sent Jadon Sancho through on goal as the English Englishman rounded Bernd Leno before Willian’s arm blocked his shot on the line. VAR intervened to award United a penalty as Willian was sent off.
Fulham manager Marco Silva also saw red before a moment of madness from Mitrovic saw the visitors being reduced to 9 men. The Serbian striker was also dismissed after barging into referee Chris Kavanagh.
Bruno Fernandes stepped up to score the spot-kick before Marcel Sabitzer scored from Luke Shaw’s cross just two minutes later.
Fulham did chase the game despite falling behind, but with two men down it looked like an improbable task. Fernandes then made it 3-1 in the match’s closing stages to end Fulham’s run in the tournament as the Red Devils booked a place in the last four.
It will be interesting to see if United can complete a domestic double after winning the Carabao Cup earlier this season.
Photo Credit: Imago / Sportimage
