Aleksander Mitrovic opened the scoring in the 50th minute after an uneventful first half to give the visiting side an unexpected lead.
WHAT A TURNAROUND 😍#MUFC || #FACup
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 19, 2023
From then onwards, the London team, despite coming under severe pressure looked stable and difficult to crack.
However, their prospects of success evaporated in a blink of an eye after a series of extraordinary events.
Jadon Sancho’s shot looked to bring the score level before a deflection off Willian saved the day for Fulham.
Or so it seemed when referee Chris Kavanagh blew his whistle for a corner kick before an Intervation from VAR for potential handball. Match official Kavanagh went to the screen and awarded the home side with a penalty kick.
Since Willian stopped a clear goal the inevitable happened as he was shown a straight red.
However, Fulham misery didn’t end here as Aleksander Mitrovic extraordinarily pushed the referee out of anger and was subsequently dismissed. That brough Fulham down to nine men in a blink of an eye.
On top of that, manager Marco Silva was also dismissed from the sideline after Interfering with the match officials.
Up stepped Bruno Fernandes and the Portuguese was merciless from the spot, slotting the ball in the bottom right-hand corner with power and precision.
Just two minutes later Marcel Sabitzer made the most from Luke Shaw’s cross to complete the full comeback.
Fernandes added a third one deep into stoppage time and that was enough for the Red Devils to go through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they will face Brighton and, fortunately for them, avoid Manchester City, who will take on Sheffield United.