If Fulham end up winning the FA Cup this year, they will surely regard their fourth round struggles to overcome Sunderland as pivotal.
Thanks to goals from Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira and Layvin Kurzawa, Marco Silva’s team succeeded at the second attempt and will host Leeds in the fifth round, but the tight scoreline reflected the verve and vibrancy of their Championship opponents.
Although Sunderland missed some decent chances, Tony Mowbray can be proud of his talented young side who, as the 50th anniversary of the club’s famous 1973 FA Cup final triumph over Leeds approaches, created a night to remember on Wearside.
“Sunderland made it difficult,” said Fulham’s manager. “It was tough but it’s really important for us that we got through.”
Silva had not exactly been relishing the prospect of watching from the stands after incurring a one-game touchline ban but, after only eight minutes, the smile on his face suggested it was not such a bad vantage point after all.
The Portuguese’s heavily rotated starting XI featured nine changes from the side that started last Friday’s goalless draw at Chelsea, but Fulham enjoyed the best possible beginning when Harry Wilson’s goal subdued a raucous crowd.
It all began when Sunderland failed to clear Kenny Tete’s cross and the ball eventually fell to Carlos Vinícius who, with back to goal, held it up superbly before supplying Wilson with a clever lay-off.
The Wales winger did that delivery full justice, using the outside of his boot to steer a finely calibrated shot just beyond Anthony Patterson’s grasp and into the bottom corner.
From then on Fulham dominated possession, their control making it all too easy to identify which team sits eighth in the Premier League and which is ninth in the Championship.
Sunderland had given Silva’s players a fright in the original tie at Craven Cottage but Mowbray’s delight at that draw was tempered by the season-ending achilles’ tendon injury suffered by his leading scorer Ross Stewart.
With his Leeds loanee striker Joe Gelhardt cup-tied, Sunderland’s manager lacked an orthodox centre forward here but, as Fulham soon discovered, he did possess a gifted attacker in Manchester United’s loanee winger Amad Diallo.
Although Diallo is no natural No 9, his quick feet, faster brain and dribbling skills sporadically discomfited Fulham and Marek Rodak did well to parry a venomously swerving shot from the shoulder-dropping 20-year-old Ivorian.
Sunderland had finally begun to succeed in playing between Silva’s defensive lines and the decibel level rose approvingly yet, as half-time approached, even an under-strength Fulham possessed sufficient nous to start applying a brake to Mowbray’s suddenly exhilaratingly high-tempo team.
It helped that Silva had the talented Tom Cairney in his midfield to second guess many of Sunderland’s manoeuvres but the visiting manager could have done with Wilson taking at least one of the two inviting scoring chances he spurned after his early opener.
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Perhaps the score informed Silva’s decision to bring on two key players in Aleksandar Mitrovic and Pereira from the bench at the outset of the second half.
Undaunted, Sunderland enjoyed their best spell of the replay, playing some good, speedily incisive, pass and move stuff. Daniel Neil side-footed fractionally wide after being smartly cued up by Diallo and Rodak contributed another important parry, from Patrick Roberts this time.
When Shane Duffy rescued Fulham by clearing off the line from Diallo after Roberts had nutmegged Cairney, an equaliser felt near inevitable but, instead, Mitrovic ensured the next goal fell to Fulham.
After connecting with Cairney’s splendid low pass, the Serb saw a shot blocked by the advancing Patterson but swiftly pounced on the loose ball by the byline, and having done well to keep it in play, managed to pull it back for Pereira to tap into an unguarded net.
By now Sunderland were pressing Fulham into submission at times. They deserved to score and did when Jack Clarke curved a superb shot beyond Rodak’s reach.
Shortly afterwards Mowbray introduced 15-year-old Chris Rigg, who had a goal disallowed in the original tie but, instead of schoolboy substitute heroics, Kurzawa volleyed Fulham’s third after Sunderland failed to clear Pereira’s corner.
Kurzawa’s subsequent stumble ensured that, when Jewison Bennette lifted a 90th-minute, close-range shot into the top corner, a tense four minutes of added time ensued.
“There’s frustration in the dressing room,” said Mowbray, whose team look realistic playoff contenders. “We’re really disappointed we only got four minutes at the end, with 10 substitutions and four goals it’s almost laughable.
“But I’m really proud of my players and the way we stuck in. The goals we conceded were unlike us but Fulham finished the game with just about their strongest team, and that’s credit to us. We’re fighting for our supporters. We want to give them a team to be proud of, who play good football.”