Manchester United 3-1 Fulham: Bruno Fernandes double seals comeback against nine-man Cottagers

Manchester United came from a goal down to beat nine-man Fulham and reach the FA Cup semi-finals with a controversial victory at Old Trafford.

Jadon Sancho seemed to be shooting an equaliser into an empty net, only for Willian to charge across and clear.

Referee Chris Kavanagh initially gave a corner, but VAR advised the official to check the pitchside monitor, with Willian protesting and manager Silva furious.

Silva was red carded before Kavanagh could even reach a decision. Once he did, Willian was dismissed as well. Then Aleksander Mitrovic, who had put Fulham in front, pushed the referee's arm as he angrily remonstrated and became the third visitor to be sent off.

Once order was restored, Bruno Fernandes tucked home the penalty.

In the space of two minutes, Fulham had lost two men, their manager and the lead.

Two minutes later, Marcel Sabitzer turned home Luke Shaw's cross to make it 2-1 to United before Fernandes added an injury-time third to knock Fulham out of the FA Cup.

United will now play Brighton in the semi-final at Wembley.

The sight of Silva pacing up and down the tunnel in a state of fury did not suggest it is a defeat he will take well.

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Fulham impress - until mayhem breaks out

The carnage of the handball incident completely changed the direction of a game that Fulham had dominated.

Not since the days of Alan Mullery and Bobby Moore have they enjoyed the experience of an FA Cup final, and they appeared so close.

Had it not been for David de Gea, they would have been out of sight.

After Mitrovic had pounced at the far post to convert Issa Diop's flick on, the United keeper performed heroics to keep the score down.

At full stretch, De Gea turned away a curling Willian shot that was heading for the far corner, then denied Mitrovic with another superb stop before the Serbian headed a half-decent opportunity over.

With former United midfielder Andreas Pereira excelling on his Old Trafford return and Tim Ream leading a robust defence, the hosts appeared to be running out of ideas.

That was until Antony led a counter-attack and squared to Sancho, who skipped past Bernd Leno, turned inside Harrison Read and steadied himself before shooting - with Willian getting in the way on the goalline.

After that, it was mayhem.

United making it hard for themselves

We can never know what would have happened if Fulham had not suffered such a disastrous couple of minutes.

It is beyond question, however, that up to that point, United were poor.

Maybe their increasing number of below-par performances is a duel consequence of an arduous post-World Cup fixture schedule in which they have played 13 successive midweek matches (with a minimum of four more to come after the international break) plus a growing number of injuries and suspensions.

The continued injury-enforced absences of Christian Eriksen and Anthony Martial has put increased pressure on others to perform.

One who has risen to the challenge is Casemiro, but on Sunday the Brazilian was serving the first game of a four-match ban for his second dismissal in a matter of weeks.

It is to their credit, therefore, that they keep managing to find a way to win quite so often.

Fernandes, in particular, drives United on from central positions and Shaw has returned to form after a difficult few games.

However, without De Gea, they may have been out.

Player of the match

de GeaDavid de Gea

with an average of 6.85

• Man UtdManchester UnitedManchester United
• FulhamFulhamFulham

Manchester United

Avg

1. Squad number1Player namede Gea

   Average rating

   6.85
2. Squad number8Player nameBruno Fernandes

   Average rating

   6.49
3. Squad number15Player nameSabitzer

   Average rating

   6.47
4. Squad number6Player nameLi Martínez

   Average rating

   6.40
5. Squad number23Player nameShaw

   Average rating

   6.35
6. Squad number29Player nameWan-Bissaka

   Average rating

   6.30
7. Squad number21Player nameAntony

   Average rating

   6.27
8. Squad number10Player nameRashford

   Average rating

   6.26
9. Squad number25Player nameSancho

   Average rating

   6.05
10. Squad number27Player nameWeghorst

    Average rating

    5.73
11. Squad number5Player nameMaguire

    Average rating

    5.60
12. Squad number17Player nameFred

    Average rating

    5.59
13. Squad number39Player nameMcTominay

    Average rating

    5.57

Fulham

Avg

1. Squad number26Player nameJoão Palhinha

   Average rating

   6.77
2. Squad number6Player nameReed

   Average rating

   6.57
3. Squad number18Player nameAndreas Pereira

   Average rating

   6.52
4. Squad number17Player nameLeno

   Average rating

   6.50
5. Squad number13Player nameReam

   Average rating

   6.41
6. Squad number33Player nameRobinson

   Average rating

   6.40
7. Squad number14Player nameDe Cordova-Reid

   Average rating

   6.35
8. Squad number31Player nameDiop

   Average rating

   6.31
9. Squad number2Player nameTete

   Average rating

   6.27
10. Squad number11Player nameSolomon

    Average rating

    5.83
11. Squad number21Player nameJames

    Average rating

    5.83
12. Squad number10Player nameCairney

    Average rating

    5.81
13. Squad number12Player nameCédric Soares

    Average rating

    5.73
14. Squad number20Player nameWillian

    Average rating

    5.68
15. Squad number9Player nameMitrovic

    Average rating

    4.86