Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has stated without mincing words that his side deserves to win over Fulham in their FA Cup quarter final clash at Old Trafford.
The Dutch manager played host to Marco Silva and his team on Sunday for a ticket to the semi final of this season’s edition of football’s oldest competition. The visitors made light work of what was believed, prior to the game, would be a difficult atmosphere for them for 75 minutes, before everything was blown to bits by an unfortunate handball on the line by Willian.
Aleksandar Mitrovic had already put them ahead in the 50th minute with his first ever goal in the competition and Fulham continued to pepper the United defence with attack after attack, most of which David De Gea had to be on hand to thwart.
Willian’s handball came after one of De Gea’s heroics. United had a fast break and the ball fell to Jadon Sancho, who cleared a path to goal for himself with some deft dribbling, before the Brazilian was adjudged to have stopped the Englishman’s goal-bound shot on the line with his hand.
A straight red followed and the protests of Fulham’s goalscorer Mitrovic and manager Marco Silva saw them sent off after Willian, leading to three straight red cards from one single action.
United would then capitalise on their numbers by scoring three goals to seal the ticket. The first was the resulting penalty from Willian’s handball, scored by Bruno Fernandes, who also scored the third after Marcel Sabitzer gave them the lead mere minutes after his equalising penalty.
Asked about his team’s luck with Fulham’s three red cards, ten Hag, hinting that Willian’s was a deserved red and the aftermath (Fulham’s other red cards and United’s win) was just as justified.
“I don’t want to emphasise that. It was a great counter-attack but I think everyone saw it was handball,” the former Ajax Amsterdam manager said. “We showed great character. Every time this team comes out, they show the personality and the determination needed. Fulham are a good team and you have to be good to overcome them.
“I think we had a good first half. We had great moments in the attacking transition and we should have been two or three goals up.”
He also dismissed their FA Cup semi-final fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion, stating that they will approach it when the time comes.
He said: “The next [FA Cup] game is a long way away. The players will go away on the international break while we analyse the recent period. Then it’s about Newcastle, Brentford and Everton.”
