FA Cup: Fulham 1-1 Sunderland
FA Cup ties at Craven Cottage are idiosyncratic. Although season ticket holders are entitled to reserve their usual seats, many fail to do so. Are they opting for a day off or have they migrated temporarily to another section of the ground?
Some familiar Hammersmith Enders seemed to be missing from Saturday's FA Cup tie against Championship side Sunderland, their places taken by enthusiastic visitors. Obviously, I was wrong some weeks ago to mock the Khans' notion of the Cottage as a tourist attraction!
The match on offer provided a reasonable amount of excitement to compensate for a lack of quality. Aleksandar Mitrovic, Willian, Tim Ream, Bobby DeCordova-Reid and Harrison Reed were on the bench, watching colleagues stake a claim for a regular first team place. As expected, Marek Rodak was given a chance to keep goal. To his chagrin he conceded in the sixth minute though he was scarcely to blame. Issa Diop dallied on the ball, allowing Jack Clarke to dispossess him and score.
Frustrated
Andreas Pereira looked to have equalised only for Daniel Ballard to block on the goal-line. Harry Wilson had two chances frustrated by goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, but the visitors possessed a real threat in the combination of Patrick Roberts and Amad Diallo. Roberts was once, like Liverpool's Harvey Elliott, a Craven Cottage starlet. Sunderland were not fazed by losing striker Ross Stewart early in the game.
Overall, the home side's 'Possibles' failed to make much impact – but Marco Silva's halftime talk once again produced results. Fulham's best moment of the match came on the hour when Layvin Kursawa found Tom Cairney and the captain tormented the Sunderland defence before scoring with his dependable left foot.
Silva decided that it was time for the old guard to perform. Over a 14-minute period he sent on Mitro, Willian, Harrison Reed and Bobby DeCordova-Reid. Yet a Sunderland winner seemed just as likely. When the Black Cats launched a triple assault on goal, Diop and Tosin blocked the first two attempts and Dan Neill fired over the bar.
Added time thriller
Unlike most League games the added time proved thrilling. Diallo set Abdoullah Ba free to centre for the 15-year-old substitute Tony Rigg to convert past Rodak. The visitors' joy was punctured when Ba was judged to have been well offside.
Then Bobby DeCordova-Reid and Willian both had last-minute efforts frustrated by the Sunderland keeper. Willian's in particular was worthy to be a match-winner, but the visitors deserved their draw in a game producing enough highlights for the BBC to screen it first on Match of the Day.
Replay
The FA Cup fourth-round replay between Sunderland and Fulham will be shown live on BBC One.
The tie takes place on 8 February at 7.45pm and is one of five fourth-round ties subject to a replay.
Note to Expedia, TripAdvisor etc: If the Whites win the replay, the next FA Cup tie at Craven Cottage will be Fulham v Leeds United.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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