FA Cup Match Review: Manchester United vs Fulham

A troubled Fulham travelled to the Theatre of Dreams, hopeful of sneaking one past the men of Sir Alex Ferguson. Manchester United were drawn for the sixth consecutive time with a Premier League club in the FA Cup, but none have really stepped up, unless Fulham pulled a very large rabbit out of an extremely small hat. Separated by 13 places in the Premier League, with United sitting pretty at the top, there was more than a chasm of quality between the two sides. Add to that the to-and-fro of talent, and it made for a juicy encounter.

Ideally, Fulham do hold their cards close, but today was a completely shabby performance which was destroyed by a better, bigger side. The 4-1 score line does complete justice to the effort United put in securing loose ends and finishing the job at hand. Such encounters prove that sides that are meant for glory will punish loose oppositions, and do not need an invitation to get on the score sheet. Fulham were just on the brink of shameful, but it was more United than the rest. Fulham were outclassed, outplayed and outsmarted by a talented Manchester United side who showed exactly why they are on course for the treble this year.

Manchester United

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 26: Wayne Rooney of Manchester United celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with his team-mates during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford

United were playing at home and were more than happy to rest goal machine Robin Van Persie. Returning were Wayne Rooney and Nani, while Hernandez looked good to plan a barrage of shots. Former Fulham defender Chris Smalling was in the ranks, and Ryan Giggs made a surprise start. Antonio Valencia and Shinji Kagawa were benched.

Fulham

Given their past record of having made it to the fourth round back in 1908, more than a century ago, Martin Jol certainly wasn’t too enthusiastic about drawing Manchester United. Dimitar Berbatov was certainly looking forward to meeting his former boss, especially after Ferguson dismissed talks of Berbatov being an indulgent buy that didn’t amount to much during his time at Old Trafford. Though not completely untrue, the Bulgarian will cherish any words of praise, no matter how subtle, that are headed his way from the man in charge at United. Fulham started the 31-year-old hitman alongside Damien Duff and Brian Ruiz. Kacaniklic also found a spot with Sidwell taking charge of the supply. Ex-Wigan player Hugo Rodallega was on the bench, who Jol probably wanted to push later. Fulham have suffered perennially in cup competitions, their highest finish being runners up at the UEFA Cup, when they lost to Atletico Madrid. Maybe their pain was going to continue, only the degree of which needed deciding.

Game Review

Starting with a flurry of punches, United were dominant in the initial seconds, when an anxious moment saw Rooney try and poke one in with the ball ending up outside the near post. At the 2 minute mark, a corner was handled by Aaron Hughes in the penalty area, and Mark Clattenburg duly obliged. A powerful shot by Giggs saw Schwarzer meet the ball but he failed to keep it out. Clattenburg did try and put the decision into perspective with a lot of eyebrow movement, but Fulham needed to pull their socks up rather than lament the goal.

Soon after, a lob made its way in to the penalty area and Damien Duff tried to head it away, but the ball skidded off his outstretched hand. Clattenburg decided that one penalty was probably enough and failed to punish Fulham for what was a blatant foul. Fulham didn’t really pick up the pace when they could, and Berbatov was as lackadaisical. A lovely touch killed an aerial ball which he released towards the attack, but dwindled around the halfway mark instead of darting towards the United net. Skill aside, the basic need to win was lacking and it showed.

Nothing else of note materialized in the remaining time and the teams looked resigned to the half-time score. Unless Jol brought Messi in at half-time, the result was not going to favour the London team. Wayne Rooney had made his mark and his potent shots showed promise.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 26: Mark Schwarzer of Fulham looks dejected during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford

The second half began with Chris Baird making way for Karagounis. Wayne Rooney looked on song, and continued where he had left off, with shot after shot to test Fulham’s resolve. At 50 minutes, Rooney saw his chance and found the bottom right corner to double the lead. Anderson had been smart enough to spot his teammate in the melee and it paid dividends with Rooney smashing past the keeper’s reach. Soon after, Javier Hernandez found himself in a position of value after Nani tried to twice to feed the ball in, but eventually needing a deflection to meet Chicharito. United were ahead by three, and Fulham had no chance whatsoever of a comeback.

At the hour mark, Duff made way for Rodallega and Scholes came on for Carrick. Other than a Berbatov shot that bounced off Smalling, Fulham were hardly making any in-roads. At 65 minutes, Hernandez made an incisive run past the Fulham defense after a Giggs pass, before cutting back and launching a shot. The shot met Hughes and wrong-stepped the diving Schwarzer, who could only helplessly watch the ball roll in to his net. United were up by four and this was becoming more practice than FA Cup.

Kagawa and Valencia came on with under 20 minutes remaining, followed by Dejagah for Fulham. The underdogs did finally make the score sheet, when a complacent Rooney let Hughes made headway and squeeze on past the diving De Gea to make it 4-1 on 76 minutes. Rodallega did try a couple of shots, but those went in to the ‘Shots off Target’ folder. By the end, Martin Jol looked thankful to be heading home, and Alex Ferguson probably was already thinking of dinner. All in all, the outing proved to be an extremely fruitful practice session for the Red Devils.