Manchester United grab their release from prison card as Fulham self-destruct

Manchester United are through to the FA Cup semi-finals, but they depended on three sending offs in one minute for Fulham to secure it.

Well, Manchester United made it to the FA Cup semi-finals, but they needed both a literal and a metaphorical helping hand from their opponents to get there. With twenty minutes to go in their quarter-final tie against Fulham at Old Trafford, they were well and truly back at the old United, the version of the side that showed to varying degrees but with a increasing regularity in recent weeks. But then Fulham lost their lead, and now Wembley are beckoning Erik ten Hag's side again.

During the opening twenty minutes, Fulham demonstrated exactly why Manchester United could not afford to take their opponents lightly. Again and again they found themselves in dangerous attacking positions, particularly wide, only for the final ball to miss or there to be no one ready to take advantage. But there were also warnings at the other end of the pitch. By committing players forward, there were gaps behind the defenders. United broke encouragingly a few times, but their finishing looked somewhat tame.

If Manchester United's opening seemed somewhat slow, perhaps we can check the schedule for an explanation. It was their 25th match in 88 days, a period in which they played solidly every weekend and every midweek without a break. And there would be no rest for the first names on the team sheet on this occasion.

Under other circumstances, an FA Cup weekend might have been an appropriate point for Erik ten Hag to rest some players. But when you're in the quarter-finals of the competition, having a bit of a tricky tie against opponents who have played well, and still chasing a silverware double, those cup matches can't really be treated as a form. an afterthought.

With this congestion of matches around a World Cup final in this most unusual season, United have shown signs of fatigue in recent weeks. They have won just three of their last eight Premier League matches. Having put themselves in an extremely strong position in the Premier League - remember when they beat Manchester City and people wondered if they could even launch a late assault on the league title itself? – this conversation has cooled rapidly in recent weeks.

While a return to the Champions League at the end of this season remains likely, the top two have since resumed their journey far to the top of the table. Even with a few games less against leaders Arsenal, the 19 points between the two teams is already too big a gap to bridge.

But those who had the opportunity to prove themselves to Ten Hag were truly missed. Wout Weghorst had a tame shot which was easily recovered by Bernd Leno. Jadon Sancho, who is starting to get to a point where he needs a string of good performances when given the chance, was seemingly on the pitch again, as anonymous as he appeared for much of the rest of the season. United grew warmer as the first half progressed, but didn't really test Fulham's goal to any meaningful extent.

Harry Maguire, meanwhile, earned himself a yellow card meaning he would miss the semi-final if they were successful, but after an hour those hopes seemed to start to fade . He co...