Fulham red-card meltdown sends Man United to Wembley

Two Fulham players and their manager were sent of in game-changing incident

Fulham's Willian (centre) continues to protest after being shown a red card during the Emirates FA Cup quarter-final match at Old Trafford, Manchester. Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire 

FA Cup quarter-final: Manchester United 3 Fulham 1 

In five minutes of mayhem United rescued themselves from an FA Cup nightmare to tee up a possible all-Manchester final.

The Reds trailed to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s goal until Willian was adjudged to have handled Jadon Sancho’s goalbound shot, after referee Chris Kavanagh had been advised by the VAR to check the pitchside monitor.

Before he could do that, he came under a verbal barrage from Fulham manager Marco Silva which saw him sent to the stands, with the red card also being brandished towards Willian for the deliberate handball.

Fulham players were incensed, claiming Willian had his hand tucked into his body. Mitrovic led their vigorous protests and was also red-carded.

Once the dust had settled, Bruno Fernandes calmly tucked away the spot kick and within a minute United were ahead, Marcel Sabitzer turning in Luke Shaw’s cross.

From a goal up and cruising towards a semi-final date with Brighton, Fulham were suddenly behind, down to nine men and rudderless with Silva away down the tunnel.

Such drama had Old Trafford buzzing, but it covers up a multitude of sins which indicate that United, while certainly on a decent upward curve, are still a long way from being back.

Fulham were the better side until a break from Antony had set up Sancho for the attempt which brought the penalty, and should have been two or three goals to the good.

The first half was notable for United’s inability to deal with feisty Fulham's raids down the flanks, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka repeatedly left to deal with both Willian and overlapping full back Antonee Robinson.

David De Gea was United’s best player for an hour, tipping over Issa Diop’s header and then touching Willian's drive round the post.

But he could do nothing as Diop touched on Andreas Pereira’s corner and Mitrovic reacted quickest to smash the ball home.

The United keeper did brilliantly to claw away a Mitrovic header after Harry Maguire’s pointless foul on Bobby Cordova-Reid in the corner - not his only gaffe of the day - had given Fulham another chance from a setpiece.

Fulham looked comfortable until Antony’s break caught them napping, and the three red cards and penalty award completely changed the course of the game.

From that point on, there was no looking back, and Fernandes wrapped it up deep in added time with an imperious strike for a scoreline neither team deserved.

The Reds now face Brighton in the semi-final at Wembley next month, with the winners of that taking on either Manchester City or Sheffield United in the final.

MANCHESTER UNITED: De Gea 8, Wan-Bissaka 6, Martinez6, Maguire 5, Shaw 6, Sabitzer 6, McTominay 6 (Antony 58, 7), Fernandes 7, Sancho 6, Weghorst 5 Rashford 6 (Fred 83) 

Subs: Butland, Lindelof, Malacia, Dalot, Pellistri, Elanga, Mainoo 

FULHAM: Leno 7, Tete 7 (Soares 89), Diop 7, Ream 7 (James 89), Robinson 7, Reed 8, Palhinha 7, Cordova-Reid 6 (Solomon 89), Pereira 7 (Cairney 89), Willian 7, Mitrovic 8 

Subs: Rodak, Adarabioyo, Wilson, Lukic, Vinicius.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh 5