Manchester United booked a ticket to the FA Cup semi-finals for Wembley showpiece following a 3-1 dramatic comeback over Fulham.
Key moments
First half was relatively quite for both sides, with Manchester United coming second best on what became a disjointed performance by Ten Hag’s army.
The visitors started the second-half on the front foot. On the 50th minute, the former United midfielder – Andreas Pereira played a corner-kick from the Stretford End.
The ball found Issa Diop who flicked it off towards Aleksandar Mitrović. The Serbian international converted his chance, as David de Gea watched the ball stricking past his goal.
Fulham was largely the better side in the proceedings. De Gea came to the party with crucial saves to keep Manchester United in the cup tie.
Fulham three red cards
On the 70th minute, Jadon Sancho jinxed passed Fulham goalkeeper. The English international strucked on the near post, only for Willian to stop the ball with his hand.
After a lengthy VAR check, Chris Kavanagh awarded the home side with a penalty. This was followed by red card for Willian.
Mitrović manhandled the match official – Kavanagh, and the latter did not hesitate to present the Sebian international with a red card.
Marco Silva was also shown a straight red card for dissenting with the referee on the touch line during VAR check.
Fulham were no doubt the authors of their downfall. All three red cards completely changed the complexion of the tie.
Manchester United dramatic comeback
Bruno Fernandes converted the spot kick to put the home side on level terms. The Portuguese scored his 60th goal on the day to surpass Robin van Persie.
Two minutes later, the Marcel Sabitzer put United ahead following an interchange of passes between Luke Shaw and Sancho.
On stoppage time Fernandes rocked a bullet into the net to ensure qualification into the semi-finals. Bruno scored his second goal on the day.
United has now won all their FA Cup ties by 3-1. They will return to Wembley Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion, following the Carabao Cup triumph at the capital.
Marcel Sabitzer: “My first goal was massive”
Sabitzer spoke on his first goal: “I was overwhelmed. I was looking for it: scoring the first at Old Trafford in front of these amazing fans,” said Marcel.
“And that important one, at 2-1 it was a massive one. I am very happy at the moment. I couldn’t reach it with the right foot, so I was just trying to hit it with the left foot and it worked out.”
“It’s massive win,” he continued. “We wanted to go back to Wembley, we did it. 1-0 down was tough, but we come back and it was a good one.”
“I think we played a good first half. We had some chances, missed it. But after the half time, we came out and conceded a goal and that is not what we wanted. So we know at this time it was going to be tough and hard.”
“But, we still believed it and we had good team spirit and mentality that you can always see on the pitch. The fans were amazing and pushed us forward and were very happy we did it.
“To be fair, I have to say to be two man down for Fulham, it wasn’t easy. So it was a little easier for us. But we have a good team spirit, a good group of guys.”
“You can see and feel it in the dressing room, on the pitch, off the pitch. We worked together, close. We stick together all the time. We were very happy about it.”
Manchester United will go head-to-head with Brighton in the semi-finals at Wembley. Sabitzer spoke on the
“As I said, before the game we were very focused to go back to Wembley and we did it. We know we are going to face a tough opponent, strong opponent. But we will prepare well for it and we will be ready to go to the final.
“We will go there and win it and bring it on.”
Ten Hag post match interview
Manchester Evening News quoted the remarks of Ten Hag when he praised de Gea: “It was tough. We conceded the goal from the set play and we needed David to survive the game because he had two great saves.”
According to the official website of Manchester United, the Dutchman added: “The first five or 10 minutes after half-time were really heavy, really tough.”
“We conceded a goal and there were three big saves from David. We survived and then made a great transition moment and that was the key turning point in the game.”
Ten Hag refused to comment on the red cards: “I don’t want to emphasise that. I think it was a great counter and it was a great job, what Antony did it was so clever together with Jadon Sancho, and then put down the goalkeeper.”
“I think it was clear, everyone saw it, [it was] handball. I think the penalty was clear and obvious. After, I don’t have a comment. It’s not about my team, I don’t give a comment on the opponent. But we can say after they went down to nine we outplayed them well.”
Ten Hag praised Sabitzer following his first goal since joining the club in January from the German side – Bayern Munich:
“He showed it [the joy of scoring] and he expressed it to the Stretford End. We all like scoring in front of our fans. It doesn’t matter which end, we like to celebrate with them.”
