Victor Lindelof scored the winning penalty in the FA Cup semi-final two years ago. Joshua Zirkzee repeated the feat in the shootout against Arsenal two months ago. But when Bernd Leno twice guessed right, he left two of Manchester United’s previous stars of shootouts devastated and a failing club’s season teetering on the brink of calamity. Only the Europa League can save it, or them, now. Despite Bruno Fernandes’ latest attempt to rescue United, at times almost single-handedly, the holders were ejected from the FA Cup.
It took penalties, it required 120 minutes – or nearer 130 – but the supporters chorusing about going to Wembley were the Fulham faithful, able to dream of a second FA Cup final, half a century after their first. United are going to San Sebastian; if Real Sociedad can overcome them over two legs, this will be a catastrophe of a campaign, utterly irredeemable.
“The goal is to win the Premier League,” said Ruben Amorim. It is already mathematically impossible this season. Little wonder Wayne Rooney said it made the head coach sound naïve. “I am not naïve. That is why I am here at 40 years old, coaching Manchester United,” Amorim responded. It was, he said, easy to be a pundit. That may be true but he is making it look hard to be United manager. “Maybe it is not with me but our goal is to win the Premier League,” he added. There is a growing school of thought that it will not be with him.
For Fulham, twice unfortunate to lose against United this season, eliminated at Old Trafford two years ago, there is an opportunity to win the FA Cup and a sense of justice being done. “It is my feeling that we deserve to be in the quarter-final,” said Marco Silva. His side held their nerve – “I love their composure of our team,” added the manager – and are unashamedly ambitious. “We want to think in the last day of the competition,” said Silva. Amorim may note that it is a more attainable target than the Premier League. A date with Crystal Palace separates Fulham from Wembley.
For United, even if their exit came on penalties, it was another way of illustrating that, bad as things could be under Erik ten Hag, they are worse under Amorim. For all his other faults, the Dutchman steered United to two FA Cup finals. For Amorim, the fine work of knocking out Arsenal was undone in match that underlined familiar failings.
This required spot kicks, and Raul Jimenez, Sander Berge, Willian and Antonee Robinson gave Fulham an immaculate record from the spot, but United’s habit of losing at Old Trafford to Premier League rivals is a theme of Amorim’s reign. So, too, awful starts. For the 16th time in 24 games, they conceded first. For the 17th time in the last 19, they proved unable to score in the first half. Yet again, they conceded from a corner. Amorim’s programme notes did not age well. “I must pay tribute to the coaching staff in how we defend set-pieces in recent weeks,” he wrote. Instead, Carlos Fernandes, the assistant manager given the responsibility for dead-ball situations, had to witness another failure of marking and planning.
What followed was not United’s first comeback, nor the only time they have been improved by substitutes, even if that can prompt the question of why they were not starting. But a common denominator in many a fightback is Bruno Fernandes.
The captain angled in a shot from a low cross from his compatriot Diogo Dalot. It was – Roy Keane, take note – the third time in just over a week when United were behind and Fernandes provided a route back into the game. This time, however, it was not enough.
And, once again, Amorim’s decision-making could be questioned. Lindelof, who came on with a solitary minute of first-team football in 2025, took a penalty when Alejandro Garnacho did not; after Fernandes, Dalot and Casemiro had scored from the spot, up stepped Lindelof and Zirkzee, who did not. “He was really confident to take a shot,” said Amorim of Lindelof.
They were not the only poor choices. As is invariably the case, the United manager had picked the wrong team. They had too little threat before the break. “We have a problem with goals,” Amorim admitted. Chido Obi and Garnacho added dynamism and a willingness to run in behind the Fulham defence as substitutes whereas United were uninspired with Rasmus Hojlund and Zirkzee starting; each missed the target with a first-half chance whereas the two replacements both almost scored winners in the 100th minute. Each was denied by Leno, whose excellent afternoon began with fine saves from Fernandes and Christian Eriksen. “One of the best goalkeepers in Premier League, in my opinion,” said Silva. The good goalkeeping was not confined to the German: Andre Onana took the game to extra time by clawing away Emile Smith Rowe’s 95th-minute shot.
Much of the drama came late on. United conceded to Fulham’s first shot on target, though there had been a warning when they allowed the unmarked Sasa Lukic to ghost in and head over. Cue a corner, dubiously awarded but which United were unable to defend, especially under Amorim and Fernandes’ watch.
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