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Sunday 02 March 2025 19:24
Manchester United bowed out of the Emirates FA Cup in Sunday afternoon’s fifth-round clash with Fulham at Old Trafford.
The first half wasn’t one that will live too long in the memory, but it’s fair to say United were marginally the superior side throughout the 45 minutes.
It was therefore tough to take when Calvin Bassey nodded home the visitors’ opener mere seconds before the conclusion of the half, leaving the Reds an uphill battle on the other side of the break.
Fulham came back out strongly from the interval, but their lead was shattered when Bruno Fernandes found the bottom-right corner with a guided finish from inside the penalty area.
Extra-time and penalties were needed to decide the winner and, unfortunately, it was the visitors who were to advance to the next round of the cup, winning 4-3 in a shootout.
Our captain was his usual commanding self in the centre of the pitch.
FIRST HALF – LATE SETBACK
The Reds got off to a relatively calm start in the opening five minutes but the early signs were promising, looking at ease on the ball and pressing Fulham well out of possession.
Both sides managed to get the ball into the box in these early moments courtesy of Diogo Dalot and Adama Traore, both on United’s left flank, but neither produced a clear-cut chance.
Our first real opportunity fell to Fernandes just past the 10-minute mark. The United skipper had been commanding from his central base, marshalling his colleagues into their optimum position as per Ruben Amorim’s instructions. He almost found the opener when he struck a powerful effort from the edge of the box, which provoked an unsettled parry behind from Bernd Leno, a sign of the pressure United were applying.
Christian Eriksen — operating in one of two advanced midfield positions — produced the next such incident, curling a goalbound effort from the left wing with his right foot, but Leno was, once again, on hand to beat it away.
Things got a little more frantic midway through the half. For both sides, passes were not always reaching their intended targets, challenges were often coming in half a second too late and there was little asked of either goalkeeper during this period.
When Sasa Lukic arrived late and free in the United penalty area to get his head on an Alex Iwobi cross, it looked as though the visitors could be the ones to profit from the chaos, but the midfielder could only nod the ball some way above the bar.
But then the real hammer blow arrived, almost the last action before the referee blew the half-time whistle.
From a disputed corner, Rodrigo Muniz headed the ball through a packed Reds six-yard box and Calvin Bassey was the first to it, to nod beyond Andre Onana from point-blank range. Heading in goalless probably would have been a fairer representation of the half of football, but Amorim’s men had a deficit to overturn after the break.
SECOND HALF — A CAPTAIN’S INTERVENTION
The Reds emerged ready to take the challenge to the Cottagers after the late setback in the first half, and did so predominately through Diogo Dalot on the left in the early moments. On one occasion, he found Noussair Mazraoui with a whipped ball, but Leno was equal to the question asked by the Morocco international’s header.
There was time for another powered Fernandes effort from distance, which drew a save from the Fulham goalkeeper, but the away side managed to wrestle back control just beyond the hour mark, almost doubling their lead through substitute Emile Smith Rowe but for a fingertip stop from Onana.
Not long had Matthijs de Ligt just put a stop to a dangerous-looking Andreas Pereira attack before, somewhat against the run of play, Fernandes popped up with the leveller.
As at the opening of the half, it was Dalot’s strong running on the left flank that created the chance. The Portugal international found his countryman unmarked in the visitors’ box and our captain handled the rest, rolling his finish neatly beyond the grasp of Leno.
In the blink of an eye, United were back in the game.
Another 90th United strike from our captain.
The goal, although vital for the Reds, did nothing to settle the tempo of the match.
Within a three minute period, Rodrigo Muniz, Alejandro Garnacho and Pereira had inviting opportunities, consecutively, at opposite ends of the pitch — a snapshot of the back-and-forth nature of the tie.
It seemed set for one moment of magic to decide the FA Cup fate of the two competing sides.
Chances for Harrry Maguire, Smith Rowe, a penalty shout for Bassey’s challenge on Chido Obi and a last-gasp one-on-one for Garnacho all threatened to be that moment, but the biggest moment fell to Chido, who clipped narrowly wide at the death, for what would have been the stuff of dreams for the teenager.
Chido goes so close to winning it at the end of normal time.
EXTRA-TIME
Some fans inside Old Trafford thought Garnacho had put United ahead with the first chance of extra-time, rocketing an effort from close-range into the side-netting. From an almost identical position with one of the last kicks of the first period, Obi almost curled one beyond Leno, but he managed to get enough on it to send it behind, again denying an historic moment for the Academy youngster.
With both sides tiring, there were fewer chances in the second period. Onana did well to stop shots from Ryan Sessegnon and Willian, and Garnacho looked a lively outlet as usual, but penalties were going to be required to separate these two.
PENALTIES
The shootout was level until United’s fourth kick, when Leno managed to get enough behind Victor Lindelof’s shot to keep it out of his net. Fernandes, Dalot and Casemiro had all found the net before then.
Joshua Zirkzee was next up and experienced the same outcome. United’s fate had been decided; the Reds were bowing out of the FA Cup.
MATCH DETAILS
United: Onana; De Ligt, Maguire (Heaven 91), Yoro (Lindelof 54); Mazraoui, Ugarte (Garnacho 53), Fernandes (c), Dalot; Zirkzee, Eriksen (Casemiro 68); Hojlund (Obi 68).
Subs not used: Graczyk, Murdock.
Goals: Fernandes 71.
Bookings: Ugarte.
Fulham: Leno; Castagne, Bassey, Anderson, Robinson (c); Lukic (Reed 101), Berge; Iwobi (Sessegnon 107), Andreas (Willian 90+3), Traore (Smith Rowe 53); Muniz (Jimenez 90+2).
Subs not used: Benda, Cuenca, Diop, Sessegnon, Cairney.
Goals: Bassey 45+1.
Bookings: Andreas, Anderson.
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Sunday 02 March 2025 19:24
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