Five talking points as Manchester United defeat Fulham 3-1 (FA Cup)

Despite going 1-0 down, Manchester United turned it around to beat Fulham 3-1 in the most dramatic of fashion with the opponents having two players and their manager sent off all in one go.

The first half was a poor showing from Manchester United, a very technically sloppy display that Erik ten Hag was visibly displeased with and the second half began in even worse fashion for United, going a goal down within minutes after defending a corner poorly.

Just after the 70th minute, the madness occurred. Willian stopped a Sancho shot from hitting the net with his hand, leading to a United penalty and Willian red card. After the VAR madness ensued, both Mitrovic and Marco Silva were shown red after losing their heads.

Read More: Manchester United manic five minutes sees FA Cup progression against Fulham

Fernandes showcased ultimate coolness to put away the penalty after a long wait, and United capitalised on the two-man advantage by scoring just moments later. Sancho released Shaw in the box with a remarkably clever pass, and Shaw gave Sabitzer a low drilled ball across the box which was cleverly flicked in. Fernandes killed Fulham for good with a fantastic strike in injury time.

Here are five talking points UtdDistrict picked up on:

1) Sancho with an extremely promising display

In the first half, almost nobody could control a football for Manchester United. The key word being almost. Amongst all the chaos, Sancho was making smart decisions and picking out some very good passes for United, a couple of which led to good opportunities.

In the second half, he was even better. He won the penalty, and whilst maybe he did take a few touches too many it was a clear handball denying a goal, and then moments later disguised a pass excellently for Luke Shaw’s overlapping run, leading to a goal. He was brave in taking his players on and operated all across the pitch, it was a strong display and he will be working hard at Carrington over the international break to maintain this when club football returns.

2) United come back a lot, but too much

United have been playing a ridiculous number of games with what is a fairly shallow squad, so it is understandable that United won’t always be at their best. But it is certainly concerning just how often Manchester United are actually having to come back this season.

It is fantastic that United have the ability to turn things around after taking a knock, something that was missing last season. But as we saw after the 2020/21 season, these comebacks cannot last forever. Ten Hag and his staff will know this and will be working on improving this.

3) Fernandes steps up, shows why he is so important

Bruno Fernandes has played more minutes than any other footballer in Europe’s top five leagues this season, which is a testament to his availability & durability as much as it is somewhat concerning, but he shows time and time again why he is so important to United.

Today was not his strongest performance, but it is far from the first time the Portuguese star has stepped up with a contribution in a game where he was not at his best and it is unlikely it will be the last. He showed ultimate coolness for the penalty and scored a fantastic goal in the final minutes too.

4) Turns out Casemiro actually does help United

Before all the madness occurred, United were playing very poorly. They were handing Fulham transitions for fun and could not keep possession to save their life, struggling to string three passes together.

Having had a few sloppy games lately, a nonsensical narrative emerged from some of the more foolish amongst United’s online fanbase that Casemiro was holding the team back. This could not have been a more ridiculous suggestion, and today should show that even with some poor performances recently he remains an essential player for United. Ten Hag and his staff will know this, and will be waiting for his return from suspension.

5) Ten Hag substitutions make an impact again

Antony’s most impactful games for United in recent times have been Barcelona away and today, and in both games, he came off the bench. In the first half, United’s three behind the striker rotated a lot, and sometimes this meant that there was a lack of natural width on the right-hand side.

Antony’s introduction changed this, and his work to set up Sancho’s chance which led to the red card was excellent. Once Fulham were down to nine men, his tendencies to hold width kept them stretched.

Fred came on with Fulham having lost two players, and he is a player you do not want to face when at a disadvantage. United’s resident busybody was absolutely everywhere throughout his cameo, exploiting the Fulham spaces for fun, and he set up Fernandes’ second goal in injury time. These two subs highlighted the impact that Ten Hag consistently makes with his changes.