It was a brilliant 3-1 victory for Manchester United over Fulham in the FA Cup quarterfinal clash after going a goal down but the Red Devils were helped by a moment of madness that saw their opponents receive three red cards in the span of one minute at the Old Trafford on Sunday (March 19) night.
Serbian striker Aleksander Mitrovic gave his side the lead in the 50th minute as the London-based club gave United a hard time. However, in the 72nd minute, Willian was adjudged to have blocked Jadon Sancho's attempt on goal. VAR intervened and while the referee was watching the replays, he received some choice words from Fulham manager Marco Silva. This resulted in the first red card.
After reviewing the decision, the referee overturned his decision and showed Willian a straight red. His teammate Mitrovic was furious with the decision and expressed it aggressively by pushing the referee and shoving his face in front of him. He was the second Fulham player and third member of the club to be sent for an early shower as all three will miss the next three Premier League.
See videos of the incident here
Willian's handball offence
In the end, Bruno Fernandes converted the spot kick as United took control of the proceedings with Fulham reduced to nine men and without their manager on the sidelines.
Bayern Munich loanee Marcel Sabitzer scored five minutes later to give United the lead and effectively eliminate Fulham from the competition. In the end, Bruno Fernandes closed out the victory with a well-placed finish in the final minute of injury time to seal their place in the semifinals of the second-biggest football competition in England.
Under Erik Ten Hag, United are still in the race for two trophies, having won the Carabao Cup. They beat Real Betis to make it to the quarters of the Europa League and are now in the semifinals of the FA Cup.
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