Aleksandar Mitrovic put Fulham 1-0 up, before Willian was sent off for blocking Jadon Sancho’s shot on the line with his hand. As the Brazilian received his marching orders, Mitrovic and manager Marco Silva were also ejected for descent, putting the Cottagers down to nine men.

Bruno Fernandes’s resulting penalty began the comeback before Sabitzer’s goal gave the Reds the lead. Fernandes would cap off the afternoon with a last-minute strike to make the game 3-1 and punched United’s ticket to Wembley to face Brighton and Hove Albion in the semi-finals.

Sabitzer added that he was proud of United’s team spirit throughout the tie, especially in our belief that we would get the win:

“I think we played a good first half. We had some chances, missed it. But after the half time, we came out and conceded a goal and that is not what we wanted. So we know at this time it was going to be tough and hard. But, we still believed it and we had good team spirit and mentality that you can always see on the pitch. The fans were amazing and pushed us forward and were very happy we did it.

“To be fair, I have to say to be two man down for Fulham, it wasn’t easy. So it was a little easier for us. But we have a good team spirit, a good group of guys. You can see and feel it in the dressing room, on the pitch, off the pitch. We worked together, close. We stick together all the time. We were very happy about it.”

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