A late strike from Teddy Sheringham shattered Fulham’s fierce resistance as Manchester United came through a searching examination of their FA Cup credentials at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Premiership holders were pushed all the way by Jean Tigana’s side on an emotional afternoon by the banks of the Thames as the Fulham faithful paid tribute to Chris Coleman, whose career is now in serious doubt after he suffered a dreadful car crash on New Year’s Day. The home side delivered a performance that the popular club captain would have been proud of with the movement of Louis Saha and Luis Boa Morte causing real problems for Sir Alex Ferguson’s defence.
The first sight of gaol fell to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a couple of minutes in but the Norwegian striker shot tamely into the hands of Maik Taylor. Uncharacteristically poor control from Welsh winger Ryan Giggs saw the home side escape following some nervy defending but Fulham quickly settled into the contest with Bjarne Goldbaek gaining joy along the right flank and firing in a cross from which Fabrice Fernandes tested Raymond van der Gouw.
United hit the front on seven minutes when Lee Clark was stripped of possession by David Beckham, who released Solskjaer with a raking pass and the Norwegian drilled an early finish past Maik Taylor from 22 yards. Fulham were stung into action by going behind with Saha and Boa Morte nearly combining to equalise but for the alertness of Mikael Silvestre. Rufus Brevett blocked a Solskjaer shot on the line at the other end and the Cottagers drew level midway through the first half.
Saha induced a foul from Gary Neville in a central position thirty yards from goal, but Roy Keane’s decision to kick the ball away in protest at the decision saw the ball moved ten yards closer. That proved particularly costly as French winger Fernandes curled a fabulous finish over the wall and into the far corner to the delight of the home crowd. Boa Morte was denied by van der Gouw three minutes later as Fulham threatened to take the lead and Kit Symons saw a free header from a corner bounce down into the turf and back up over the bar.
Fulham continued to threaten after the interval with Boa Morte’s bright run halted by an excellent tackle from Wes Brown inside the United box. Next it was Silvestre’s turn to deploy a last-ditch tackle to deny Saha, before Andy Melville stepped in at the other end to rob Keane of a sight of goal. Both managers turned to their substitutes bench with Ferguson sending on Sheringham for Dwight Yorke and Tigana replacing Boa Morte with Andrejs Stolcers.
Just as Fulham appeared to have done enough to earn a replay, Sheringham stole victory for United with a lovely low finish from the edge of the area after he latched onto a clever pass from Luke Chadwick. It was incredibly harsh on Fulham, who had coped with all that their illustrious opponents had thrown at them and offered plenty in return.
FULHAM (4-4-2): Taylor; Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Symons; Sahnoun, Clark, Goldbaek, Fernandes; Saha, Boa Morte (Stolcers 71). Subs (not used): Hahnemann, Neilson, Trollope, Lewis.
BOOKED: Boa Morte.
GOAL: Fernandes (24).
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): van der Gouw; G. Neville, P. Neville, Silvestre, Brown; Butt (Wallwork 28), Keane, Beckham (Chadwick 84), Giggs; Solskjaer, Yorke (Sheringham 74). Subs (not used): Rachubka, Irwin.
BOOKED: Keane, P. Neville, Brown.
GOALS: Solskjaer (7), Sheringham (89).
REFEREE: Jeff Winter (Cleveland).
ATTENDANCE: 19,178
