Fulham 1 Sunderland 3
Can you hear me, Richard Osman? Your boys took one hell of a beating...
Of course, that's untrue. Sunderland put my father and I through the wringer at Fulham tonight but came out the other side in the FA Cup Fifth Round, where we will play giant killing Bradford City a week on Sunday. There's something magical about walking towards a floodlit ground at night and I took the pleasant stroll along the Thames to Craven Cottage feeling cautiously optimistic of a result. I've got a lot of time for Fulham and always enjoy going there. I just hope that if we're back next season, it's in the cup again.
My main recollections of the first half concern Fulham's structurally sound defending despite Sunderland dominating the ball and winning an awful lot of corners. Fulham scored with their only meaningful effort of the opening 45. As my father predicted, both sides prevented Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone from getting to the ball at a corner on the 28th minute. Mannone saved from Ross McCormack at close range but after some penalty area pinball, the ball landed at the feet of Hugo Rodellega who couldn't miss.
Sunderland went straight on the front foot in the second half but were struggling to create a great deal in the final third. Chances were at a premium at the hour mark. Then, Patrick Van Aanholt looped a speculative ball towards the Fulham goalkeeper. Inexplicably, Marcus Bettinelli conceded an own goal by dropping the ball into his own net. As the man next to me commented, "It was the only way they were going to score". It was the stroke of luck needed to bring Sunderland to life. Emmanuele Giaccherini narrowly missed from the edge of the area as the Black Cats continued to push forward. Alvarez had seen a lot of the ball without doing much with it. In the 65th minute, he cut inside the Fulham penalty area, found a yard of space and lashed a fine strike beyond Bettinelli.
Then came a rather aggressive looking brawl instigated by Alvarez lying on the ball off the pitch. Giaccherini raised his hands to Seko Fofana and was very fortunate to get away from the incident with just a booking. There were a couple of late scares before the announcement of five minutes of stoppage time.
A penalty settled the nerves. Danny Graham was fouled in the box by Nikolay Bodurov and Jordi Gomez stepped up to fire coolly to the right of the beleaguered Bettinelli. 4,500 Sunderland fans were in attendance tonight, an amazing turn out. We've not had much to celebrate of late, so enjoyed the moment when it came. Even my father sang "Que sera sera, whatever will be will be. We're going to Wembley, que sera sera". I'm sure he doesn't really believe it and neither do I, but you've got to be in it to win it. Roll on Valley Parade.
Of course, that's untrue. Sunderland put my father and I through the wringer at Fulham tonight but came out the other side in the FA Cup Fifth Round, where we will play giant killing Bradford City a week on Sunday. There's something magical about walking towards a floodlit ground at night and I took the pleasant stroll along the Thames to Craven Cottage feeling cautiously optimistic of a result. I've got a lot of time for Fulham and always enjoy going there. I just hope that if we're back next season, it's in the cup again.
My main recollections of the first half concern Fulham's structurally sound defending despite Sunderland dominating the ball and winning an awful lot of corners. Fulham scored with their only meaningful effort of the opening 45. As my father predicted, both sides prevented Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone from getting to the ball at a corner on the 28th minute. Mannone saved from Ross McCormack at close range but after some penalty area pinball, the ball landed at the feet of Hugo Rodellega who couldn't miss.
Sunderland went straight on the front foot in the second half but were struggling to create a great deal in the final third. Chances were at a premium at the hour mark. Then, Patrick Van Aanholt looped a speculative ball towards the Fulham goalkeeper. Inexplicably, Marcus Bettinelli conceded an own goal by dropping the ball into his own net. As the man next to me commented, "It was the only way they were going to score". It was the stroke of luck needed to bring Sunderland to life. Emmanuele Giaccherini narrowly missed from the edge of the area as the Black Cats continued to push forward. Alvarez had seen a lot of the ball without doing much with it. In the 65th minute, he cut inside the Fulham penalty area, found a yard of space and lashed a fine strike beyond Bettinelli.
Then came a rather aggressive looking brawl instigated by Alvarez lying on the ball off the pitch. Giaccherini raised his hands to Seko Fofana and was very fortunate to get away from the incident with just a booking. There were a couple of late scares before the announcement of five minutes of stoppage time.
A penalty settled the nerves. Danny Graham was fouled in the box by Nikolay Bodurov and Jordi Gomez stepped up to fire coolly to the right of the beleaguered Bettinelli. 4,500 Sunderland fans were in attendance tonight, an amazing turn out. We've not had much to celebrate of late, so enjoyed the moment when it came. Even my father sang "Que sera sera, whatever will be will be. We're going to Wembley, que sera sera". I'm sure he doesn't really believe it and neither do I, but you've got to be in it to win it. Roll on Valley Parade.
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