Premier League

Manchester United seize their get-out-of-jail-free card as Fulham self-destruct

Andreas Pereira of Fulham and Scott McTominay of Manchester Unitedduring the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford

Manchester United are through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but they were dependent on three sendings-off in a minute for Fulham to ensure it.

 

Well, Manchester United are through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but they needed both a literal and metaphorical helping hand from their opponents to get there.

With 20 minutes to play of their quarter-final game against Fulham at Old Trafford, they were well and truly back to being stodgy old United, the version of the team which has shown itself to varying degrees but with increasing regularity in recent weeks.

But then Fulham lost their minds, and now Wembley beckons again for Erik ten Hag’s team.

For the first 20 minutes, Fulham demonstrated exactly why Manchester United could ill afford to take their opponents lightly. Again and again, they got into dangerous attacking positions, especially wide, only for either the final ball to be lacking or for there to be no-one there ready to take advantage.

But there were also warnings at the other end of the pitch. In committing players forward there were gaps in behind the defenders. United broke encouragingly on a couple of occasions, but their finishing looked somewhat tame.

If Manchester United’s opening did look somewhat sluggish, then perhaps we can look to the calendar for something of an explanation. This was their 25th game in 88 days, a period during which they’ve been solidly playing every weekend and every midweek without interruption. And there would be no resting for the first names on the teamsheet on this occasion.

Under other circumstances, an FA Cup weekend might have been an appropriate point for Erik ten Hag to rest a few players. But when you’re at the quarter-final stage of the competition, have a slightly tricky-looking tie against opponents who have been playing well, and are still chasing a silverware double, these cup matches can’t really be treated as an afterthought.

With this fixture congestion coming around a World Cup finals in this most unusual of seasons, United have been showing signs of fatigue in recent weeks. They’ve only won three of their last eight Premier League matches.

Having got themselves into an extremely strong position in the Premier League – remember when they beat Manchester City and people were talking about whether they could even launch a late assault on the league title itself? – that talk has cooled quickly again in recent weeks.

Although a return to the Champions League come the end…

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